Equatorial Guinea

2011

  

Obiang prize shelved… for now… again

UNESCO’s executive board Tuesday again deferred action on the life sciences prize named after and funded by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. The Committee to Protect Journalists joined with other human rights organizations to call on the board to eliminate the prize permanently.

Read More ›

Obiang prize goes down to the wire

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is a stubborn man.  In 2008, the president of Equatorial Guinea made a $3 million donation to UNESCO to underwrite a prize in the life sciences. But a groundswell of opposition from human rights groups, press freedom organizations, and governments appalled by Obiang’s record of kleptocracy and human rights abuses helped…

Read More ›

UNESCO must reject Obiang prize bid

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined with eight other human rights organizations today in opposing the bid for a UNESCO life sciences prize named after Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. CPJ and other groups have consistently voiced their opposition to this prize, saying that Equatorial Guinea’s human rights record undercuts the UNESCO mission.…

Read More ›

The ZDF crew filming in Equatorial Guinea. (Courtesy ZDF)

Equatorial Guinea deletes German TV crew’s footage

New York, June 17, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention of a German television crew and the destruction of their footage by authorities in Equatorial Guinea.

Read More ›

Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang seen here with Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. (AFP)

Equatorial Guinea suspends journalist over Libya mention

New York, March 2, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Equatorial Guinea’s censorship of coverage of events in North Africa, the Middle East, and Ivory Coast. A state radio presenter’s reference to Libya during a live radio program on Friday led censors to abruptly force the journalist off the air and order an indefinite suspension from the…

Read More ›

A man sets up a satellite dish in Zimbabwe, where state news is severely restricted on the ongoing protests in the Middle East, but where CNN is still accessible. (AP)

Sub-Saharan Africa censors Mideast protests

As news of Middle Eastern and North African protests swirl around the globe, satellite television and the Internet prove vital sources of information for Africans as governments fearful of an informed citizenry and a free press such as in Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe impose total news blackouts on the developments.

Read More ›

Reuters

With abysmal press freedom record, Obiang takes AU chair

The African Union announced on Sunday that the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, will become the new chairman in the union’s yearly rotating leadership. The first debate Obiang (at left) presided over at the two-day AU conference that ends today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, concerned “shared values”–highlighting issues of democracy and good governance. Representing…

Read More ›

2011