In the country of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the death penalty is “totally abolished”, announced the state television, referring to a law promulgated by the president on Monday.
According to the provisions of the law of the new Equatorial Guinean criminal code, signed by the head of state and broadcast by the vice-president on Twitter; “The death penalty is totally abolished in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea”.
The law was passed in parliament, where 99 of the 100 deputies sit on behalf of the presidential party. It will go into effect “within 90 days of its publication in the official state bulletin,” the document states.
In this small Central African oil country of about one million six hundred people, the last execution was in 2014. Those sentenced to death were usually executed by shooting by the military.
Around the world, some fifty states continue to apply the death penalty. In Africa, some thirty countries still maintain the death penalty in their legislation. Nevertheless, it should be noted that most of them have not carried out executions in recent years.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 80, has already served more than 43 years in power, a world record outside of monarchies. His regime is regularly accused of abuses by international NGOs and the United Nations. It is one of the most closed and authoritarian countries in the world.
