The Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, announced this Monday, on his Facebook page, that “Equatorial Guinea has abolished the death penalty”, considering it a “historic” step for the country.
“Historical and memorable for our country in the management of respect for Human Rights. I write in capital letters to seal this unique moment: EQUATORIAL GUINEA ABOLISHED THE DEATH PENALTY”, said the vice president, son of President Teodoro Obiang, in power. since 1979.
The measure -published about two months before the local, legislative and presidential elections- had been demanded internally and externally for several years and was promised “soon” by the Equatoguinean head of state at the beginning of last March.
Teodorín Obiang, the name by which the Equatoguinean vice president is known, also published an image of the country’s new Penal Code, whose article 26 of Chapter I, on penalties in general, determines that “in the application of penalties, the the death penalty in Equatorial Guinea”.
The new criminal code, Law 4/2022, signed by the head of state on August 17, enters into force 90 days after its publication in the official gazette.
The commitment to abolish the death penalty was part of the roadmap that Equatorial Guinea, whose regime is accused by international organizations of violating human rights, undertook to implement when it joined the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in 2014.
Source: TSF
