Equatorial Guinea: Human Rights

Mark Pritchard
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further steps his Department plans to take to seek to ensure that the Government of Equatorial Guinea improves its human rights record, with particular reference to prison conditions.

Mr. Ivan Lewis
We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Equatorial Guinea, including reports by the UN Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, Manfred Nowak, of poor conditions in Equato-Guinean Prisons.

The UK will raise its human rights concerns during Equatorial Guinea's forthcoming Universal Periodic Review in the Human Rights Council this month. The Government welcomed the visit to Equatorial Guinea by the UN Special Rapporteur and the co-operation given by the authorities for the visit. The UK engages in the interactive dialogue for every country going through the review—one of the most important innovations of the Human Rights Council, as it has the potential to result in real improvements in the human rights situation on the ground—and we will do the same for Equatorial Guinea. Our ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, located in Abuja, will also continue to raise concerns with the Equato-Guinean authorities on his visits to the country.