{"id":446059,"date":"2011-06-23T06:39:27","date_gmt":"2011-06-23T06:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/23\/abuses-ahead-of-au-summit\/"},"modified":"2011-06-23T06:39:27","modified_gmt":"2011-06-23T06:39:27","slug":"abuses-ahead-of-au-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/23\/abuses-ahead-of-au-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Abuses Ahead of AU Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Equatorial Guinea Justice<\/a> (Washington,\u00a0DC)<\/p>\n

22 June 2011<\/p>\n

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press release<\/p>\n

Government Curtails Political Rights, Disregards Social Needs<\/em><\/p>\n

Equatorial Guinea\u2019s government has spent lavishly on diplomatic accommodations while neglecting the rights of the country\u2019s 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. While most citizens of Equatorial Guinea languish in poverty, President Teodoro Obiang\u2019s government, which holds the revolving AU chairmanship, spent more than US$830 million to construct a luxury complex for the summit outside the nation\u2019s capital, Malabo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Obiang government hopes that foreign visitors will be favorably impressed by the deluxe facilities built for their enjoyment,\u201d said Tutu Alicante, executive director of EG Justice, an organization based in Washington, DC. \u201cBut visitors should instead question why the government is building villas for the rich while Equatorial Guinea\u2019s poor live in slums without reliable electricity or drinking water.\u201d<\/p>\n

The theme of the AU Summit, which runs from June 23 to July 1, 2011, is \u201cAccelerating Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oil revenues make the country\u2019s per-capita wealth in 2010 equivalent to that of Germany, Japan, or the United Kingdom, but living standards are very poor.<\/p>\n

Current statistics are hard to obtain for the country, which does not always produce reliable data. More than three-quarters of the country\u2019s people live in poverty, according to a 2007 study by the government of Equatorial Guinea, whose findings the government has cited as recently as 2009 but now disputes. Equatorial Guinea\u2019s child mortality rates have declined somewhat, in line with global trends, but 2009 UNICEF figures indicate that the country ranks the 14th worst in the world on this indicator. The government has not produced updated figures.<\/p>\n

The Obiang government has at times denied that poverty is a serious problem, while on other occasions it has recognized the need to improve social welfare. It recently dismissed as \u201cabsurd\u201d outside criticisms about extreme poverty in the country, stating that Equatoguineans \u201cnow enjoy a status envied around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2007, it adopted a long-term development plan that largely focuses on infrastructure but also calls for social improvements. Social spending levels have increased, compared with spending in past years. But overall allocations to meet social needs remain relatively low in light of available funds, according to the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n

Education spending as a percentage of GDP is lower in Equatorial Guinea than in neighboring countries, including Cameroon and Gabon, despite the fact that Equatorial Guinea is the wealthiest nation in sub-Saharan Africa on a per-capita basis.<\/p>\n

Education spending was approximately $200 million in 2008, the most recent year for which the figure could be calculated. That sum is less than one-quarter of the government\u2019s expenditures on building the complex to host the AU summit.<\/p>\n

It is difficult for citizens of Equatorial Guinea to challenge the government\u2019s spending choices from inside the country, given the lack of press freedom and crackdowns on those who criticize the government or try to mobilize to defend their rights, EG Justice and Human Rights Watch said.<\/p>\n

The Malabo event, unlike other AU summits, will not include a parallel civil society gathering for foreign and domestic groups. No public explanation has been offered.<\/p>\n

The government has said that it is \u201creinforcing surveillance\u201d to ensure \u201cperfect security\u201d for the meeting. It closed schools a month early in what may be a measure designed to deter youth protests. Earlier in the year, it banned public demonstrations.Opposition groups and human rights monitors have reported incidents in which political activists, students, and migrants were detained between April and June. United Nations experts and others have documented serious and widespread abuses by Equatorial Guinea\u2019s security forces, including systematic use of torture.<\/p>\n

Both domestic and international journalists have faced obstacles in reporting freely. Some foreign journalists have been denied visas, while others who have worked in the country report being under surveillance, harassed, and detained.<\/p>\n

For example, on June 11, Equatorial Guinea security agents expelled journalists from the German television network ZDF after interrogating them for several hours and deleting footage the agents felt showed the country in an unfavorable light, including images of poverty. In April 2010, the sole foreign correspondent in Equatorial Guinea, an Agence France-Presse reporter, was detained and held for several hours while attempting to cover the arrival of foreign dignitaries for a summit meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cEquatorial Guinea\u2019s government tries to silence its own citizens and harasses the international press, but visiting dignitaries should speak up about the need for dramatic reform in Equatorial Guinea,\u201d Alicante said.<\/p>\n

The new complex built for the summit, called Sipopo, is about five kilometers outside of Malabo. A June 10 government announcement says it features a high-end hotel with the country\u2019s first spa, part of the Sofitel chain, a major new conference center, a mile-long artificial beach, 52 luxury beach-front villas (at a cost of $140 million), an 18-hole golf course, a new highway, a heliport, an ultra-modern hospital, a fiber optics network, and a police station. The Obiang government has said that it hopes Sipopo will serve as a destination for foreign tourists after the weeklong summit concludes.<\/p>\n

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has noted the relatively low social spending in Equatorial Guinea in light of needs, and expressed concern about skyrocketing spending on infrastructure. It warned in a May 2010 report that the level of public spending is unsustainable.<\/p>\n

The IMF also expressed concern about high poverty in the country and urged the government to make projects that \u201craise living standards and productivity\u201d their priority.
Equatorial Guinea\u2019s government, for its part, has argued that spending to build facilities for the AU summit would boost tourism prospects and the economy. The country will also co-host next year\u2019s African Cup of Nations, from January 21 to February 12, 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cEquatorial Guinea has tremendous resources at its disposal that should be spent to benefit the population,\u201d said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. \u201cThe stark contrast between the luxury facilities for the summit and the poor state of education, health, and civil rights for too many of the country\u2019s young people should make the international community question the government\u2019s priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nAbuses Ahead of AU Summit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Equatorial Guinea Justice (Washington,\u00a0DC) 22 June 2011 press release Government Curtails Political Rights, Disregards Social Needs Equatorial Guinea\u2019s government has spent lavishly on diplomatic accommodations while neglecting the rights of the country\u2019s 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. While most citizens of Equatorial Guinea languish in poverty, President Teodoro Obiang\u2019s government, which holds the revolving AU chairmanship, spent more than US$830 million to construct a luxury complex for the summit outside the nation\u2019s capital, Malabo. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":446060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-446059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment"},"yoast_head":"\nAbuses Ahead of AU Summit - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/23\/abuses-ahead-of-au-summit\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Abuses Ahead of AU Summit - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Equatorial Guinea Justice (Washington,\u00a0DC) 22 June 2011 press release Government Curtails Political Rights, Disregards Social Needs Equatorial Guinea\u2019s government has spent lavishly on diplomatic accommodations while neglecting the rights of the country\u2019s 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. 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