The document on "The Situation of Human Rights in the World" highlights that the regime in Equatorial Guinea, a country that ranked 120th out of 180 countries in the 2023 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, "maintained tight control over the media, and censorship remained the norm".

"There are no independent media outlets. The legal framework that criminalizes the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press through the frequent use of libel and defamation laws continued to foster self-censorship," the non-governmental organization adds in the report.

Amnesty International (AI) also accuses the regime of Teodoro Obiang, the longest-serving head of state in office not considering monarchies, of continuing to hold an undetermined number of young people in arbitrary detention following the so-called "Clean-up Operation" against youth gangs.

"In February, Pablo Santiago Nsue Ondo Angue, 22, who was detained under this operation, died in Oveng Azem prison from cardio-respiratory arrest. He had remained in detention despite a court order granting him release in October 2022," AI exemplifies.

Regarding allegations of torture and ill-treatment, Amnesty recalls the case that occurred in January 2023, when the opposition group Movement for the Liberation of the Third Republic of Equatorial Guinea (MLGE3R), based in Spain, announced the death in prison of one of its main activists, Julio Obama Mefuman, a dual Spanish and Equatorial Guinean national.

The MLGE3R accused the authorities of having tortured Mefuman several times, who was serving a 60-year prison sentence in Oveng Azem prison, accused of participating in an alleged coup attempt.

The authorities confirmed that Julio Obama had died in a hospital in Mongomo following an illness, but refuted the allegations of torture.

"Julio Obama's death came less than two weeks after Spain's High Court opened an investigation against Carmelo Ovono Obiang, the son of the President of Equatorial Guinea, and two other officials. They were accused of the alleged kidnapping and torture of four Equatorial Guinean nationals, including Julio Obama and another dual national, as well as two other residents in Spain, all of them members of the MLGE3R," AI details.

Related to this case, on 16 February, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the "political persecution and repression of political opponents" in Equatorial Guinea, as well as the death of Julio Obama during his detention, and called for an independent international investigation.

"In March, the three officials failed to appear before the Spanish High Court. The court ordered that Julio Obama's body be returned to Spain, but the order was ignored," the NGO adds in the report.

Later, in April, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Equatorial Guinea informed the Spanish Government that it had opened an investigation into the alleged torture of the four men, thus claiming jurisdiction over the matter. At the end of the year, the judicial process in Spain was still pending," concludes Amnesty.

Read Also: Arbitrary detentions and police violence in Angola remain a concern (Portuguese version)