Equatorial Guinea: Abuses Ahead of AU Summit – Passion of the Present

Equatorial Guinea’s government has spent lavishly on diplomatic accommodations while neglecting the rights of the country’s poor in the lead-up to hosting the African Union summit. The government has also sharply limited public dissent and critical reporting. While most citizens of Equatorial Guinea languish in poverty, President Teodoro Obiang’s government, which holds the revolving AU chairmanship, spent more than US$830 million to construct a luxury complex for the summit outside the nation’s capital, Malabo.

(Washington, DC) – Equatorial Guinea’s government has spent lavishly on diplomatic accommodations while neglecting the rights of the country’s poor in the lead-up to hosting the African Union summit, Human Rights Watch and EG Justice said today. The government has also sharply limited public dissent and critical reporting.