(Washington, DC, July 19, 2010) - The latest five-point reform package announced in a speech by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in South Africa on June 28 purported to outline major improvements for the country and followed several comparable statements delivered in Equatorial Guinea. This package should be seen as the Obiang regime’s response to the termination of its candidate status in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in April and as a tacit recognition that a harsh spotlight will continue to be put on its record of corruption and repression unless it can acknowledge the need for change.

Promises of reform must address the fundamental changes that are necessary to improve the governance of the country, including ending impunity for human rights violations, building respect for the rule of law, and enabling the people of Equatorial Guinea to hold their leaders accountable. Moreover, immediate steps must be taken to open space for the emergence of a civil society independent of government control and to allow access for international human rights NGOs, in addition to the ICRC, to be allowed into the country to monitor developments. Without these steps, any reform will lack the credibility to be taken seriously by the people of Equatorial Guinea, let alone the international community.

“If the government of Equatorial Guinea expects such commitments to reform to be taken seriously, it must build confidence by opening up greater space for civil society to participate in and contribute to an inclusive process,” said Bennett Freeman, Chair of the Board of EG Justice and former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. “President Obiang’s speech will be dismissed as a cynical ploy unless it is followed soon by an action plan demonstrating how these reforms are to be developed and implemented, with a real role for civil society.”

Click here to read the full text of EG Justice's statement.

(Washington, DC, July 19, 2010) - The latest five-point reform package announced in a speech by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in South Africa on June 28 purported to outline major improvements for the country and followed several comparable statements delivered in Equatorial Guinea. This package should be seen as the Obiang regime’s response to the termination of its candidate status in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in April and as a tacit recognition that a harsh spotlight will continue to be put on its record of corruption and repression unless it can acknowledge the need for change.

Promises of reform must address the fundamental changes that are necessary to improve the governance of the country, including ending impunity for human rights violations, building respect for the rule of law, and enabling the people of Equatorial Guinea to hold their leaders accountable. Moreover, immediate steps must be taken to open space for the emergence of a civil society independent of government control and to allow access for international human rights NGOs, in addition to the ICRC, to be allowed into the country to monitor developments. Without these steps, any reform will lack the credibility to be taken seriously by the people of Equatorial Guinea, let alone the international community.

“If the government of Equatorial Guinea expects such commitments to reform to be taken seriously, it must build confidence by opening up greater space for civil society to participate in and contribute to an inclusive process,” said Bennett Freeman, Chair of the Board of EG Justice and former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. “President Obiang’s speech will be dismissed as a cynical ploy unless it is followed soon by an action plan demonstrating how these reforms are to be developed and implemented, with a real role for civil society.”

Click here to read the full text of EG Justice's statement.