Equatorial Guinea, one of the world’s most authoritarian countries, has abolished the death penalty, state television announced on Monday citing a new law signed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
Capital punishment was “totally abolished” in the oil-rich central African nation after the president signed a new penal code, shared on Twitter by the vice president. The last official execution in the small country was carried out in 2014, according to Amnesty International, but international NGOs and the United Nations regularly accuse the regime of forced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture.
“I am writing in capitals to seal this unique moment: ‘EQUATORIAL GUINEA HAS ABOLISHED THE DEATH PENALTY’,” tweeted Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, one of the head of state’s sons and viewed as his likely successor.
Make we no catch theif here