Equatorial Guinea

Political prisoners and criminal detainees are systemically tortured in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, a United Nations investigator said on Nov. 19. In a report issued after a week-long visit to the West African state, Manfred Nowak, special rapporteur for the UN’s Human Rights Council, called on oil companies operating there to ensure they do not abet government abuses of human rights. Amnesty International (AI) likewise has asserted that repression and torture of political opponents has been rife in Equatorial Guinea. The government has denied in the past that it tortures political opponents. (Reuters)