Equatorial Guinea - Publish What You Pay

Registration to PWYP Africa Conference 2021

This event took place in March 2021. You can find here the links to the conference’s sessions recordings and the report presenting highlights of the three-day meeting.

Adapting for resilience and collaborating for impact on natural resource governance

24 and 25 March

The 2021 PWYP Africa Conference will consider how the resource governance movement can build resilience and collaborate for impact in Africa, in the face of big global challenges like the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and energy transition, and threats on civic space.

The conference, held every three years, is the principal space for PWYP members, along with the wider natural resource governance movement in Africa, to strategise, discuss and exchange experiences, and to learn from one another.

pictures of attendees at the PWYP Africa Conference

The conference will be the first Africa-wide PWYP gathering since the adoption of the five year global Strategy, Vision 2025 – A people-centred agenda for the extractive sector. It will also be the first PWYP Africa Conference to be held virtually, a necessary measure resulting from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Each session will feature a panel discussion/presentation from speakers for 45 minutes, followed by a 30 minute question and answer session. All sessions will be recorded and made available online following the event.

Please note that by registering for this event you are committing to abide by the PWYP code of conduct.

Agenda

Download a PDF of the Africa Conference 2021 Day 1 and 2 Agenda

24 March - Opening Session and Key Note address

Opening Session and Key Note address

09:00 GMT

Languages: English, French and Portuguese
Length: 1.5 hours

The panel will highlight the current trends in the governance of the extractives sector. PWYP Executive Director will also share on PWYP Vision 2025, the importance of PWYP in shaping the governance of the sector. The Chair of the Africa Steering Committee will address key issues related to the extractives governance in Africa and the importance of movement building in addressing the challenges that Africa faces in managing the sector.

The Keynote speaker will address the impact of COVID on resource governance and speak to the challenges resource rich countries in Africa have faced. He will also highlight the challenges that host communities face in the midst of COVID and what governments, non state actors and communities need to manage the extractives sector for future generations.

24 March - Responsive adaptation in a time of crisis: what is needed to drive open and accountable extractives governance in Africa?

Responsive adaptation in a time of crisis: what is needed to drive open and accountable extractives governance in Africa?

11:00 GMT

Languages: English, French and Portuguese
Length: 1.5 hours

This panel will reflect on the findings of the Covid-19 scenario workshop which PWYP facilitated in October 2020 to consider the economic, political and social impact of four Covid-19 scenarios on the governance of the extractive industries, and on PWYP’s global strategy. Panellists will be invited to share their perspectives on how companies, governments and civil society movements in Africa can or should respond, in order to drive improved natural resource governance across the continent, including in the context of climate change and the energy transition; civic space; tax justice; and gender equality.

24 March - Women’s rights as a resource governance priority

Women’s rights as a resource governance priority

24 March 2021 – 13:00 GMT

Languages: English, French and Portuguese
Length: 1.5 hours

Even if we can notice tremendous efforts to address gender issues in the extractive sector, there’s still enormous gaps to advance women rights substantively as a key priority in the transparency movement, like contract transparency or tax issues are.

This panel aims to build on the experiences of diverse stakeholders including the industry, government and civil society on fostering a feminist natural resource governance.

25 March - Shining a light on extractive sector tax for optimal revenue generation

Shining a light on extractive sector tax for optimal revenue generation

09:00 GMT

Languages: English, French and Portuguese
Length: 1.5 hours

Over a decade ago, African heads of government and state agreed to the Africa Mining Vision (2009), a blueprint that seeks to harness mineral wealth to achieve socio-economic transformation on the continent. One of the key pillars of the AMV is on mining fiscal linkages by curbing illicit financial flows and tightening tax regimes. Furthermore, Africa governments have increasingly recognised the importance of reviewing and reforming fiscal rules and systems to enhance the generation of revenues from the extractives sector. In this session we will be looking at best practices and lessons learnt to help shape an effective approach for governments to generate more revenue from the extractive sector.

25 March - Contract transparency: why does it matter and what can we do together to implement the global norm of contract disclosure across the continent

Contract transparency: why does it matter and what can we do together to implement the global norm of contract disclosure across the continent

11:00 GMT

Languages: English, French and Portuguese
Length: 1.5 hours

Although, as a result of several actions by civil society organisations, a number of contracts have already been published, it is still important to note that the vast majority of contracts have not yet been published. Faced with this situation, in 2020, PWYP launched #DiscloseTheDeal, our global campaign for contract transparency in the oil, gas and mining industries. This comes in a critical year; as of January 2021, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) countries will be required to start disclosing contracts.

This panel at the Africa Conference will provide an opportunity for speakers to respond to and reflect on how the resource governance movement across the world can learn from different experiences and support strong uptake of EITI standard.

25 March - Energy transition: Between challenges and opportunities for extractive resource rich countries in Africa

Energy transition: Between challenges and opportunities for extractive resource rich countries in Africa

13:00 GMT

Languages: English, French and Portuguese
Length: 1.5 hours

The transition to low carbon energy necessary to tackle the climate crisis can contribute towards a resilient post-pandemic recovery, secure sustainable development, and benefit citizens. However, without a concerted and organized effort by civil society, the energy transition risks being both inadequate and unfair, undermining economic benefits and livelihoods, and weakening citizen participation in the management of their natural resources.

What could be the impact of the energy transition on the economies of African countries rich in oil resources and strategic minerals? What needs to happen to ensure the future energy transition is economically and socially fair? How should Africa position itself in relation to energy transition and what role can PWYP play in this regard? The interventions of the different panellists will aim to provide some answers to these questions.

IMF: Delay Vote on Equatorial Guinea Loan

Risk of Subsidizing Systemic Abuses, Corruption

(Washington, DC) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Executive Board should delay a planned December 2019 vote on a US$280 million loan agreement with Equatorial Guinea, eight human rights and good governance organizations and eight prominent experts said today in a letter to the IMF Executive Board. The program preceding the loan agreement and planned conditions for the loan are insufficient to address deep-rooted rights violations, corruption, and related impunity in Equatorial Guinea in line with IMF requirements.

The organizations are Center for Development Studies and Initiatives in Equatorial Guinea (CEIDGE), EG Justice, Human Rights Watch, Natural Resource Governance Institute, Global Witness, Amnesty International, Publish What You Pay, and Oxfam. They are joined by all eight Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Civil Society Board members.

“Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea is requesting a loan after the country’s political elite allowed human rights abuses, corruption, and mismanagement to flourish in the country for years,” said Sarah Saadoun, business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The IMF bailout should require Equatorial Guinea to carry out deep-seated reforms to its handling of natural resources that result in rights improvements, accountability, and transparency.”

The government of Equatorial Guinea reached an agreement with IMF staff for a three-year Extended Fund Facility loan. An IMF spokesperson said that its board of directors will consider the $280 million loan in December. The IMF is funded by member governments using public funds.

Any loan agreement would need to be consistent with the IMF’s new framework for addressing corruption, adopted by the board in April 2018 to remedy past gaps and inconsistencies. It requires the IMF to assess potential corruption and its macroeconomic implications for each member country, and candidly integrate these assessments into its surveillance and conditions.

“Equatorial Guinea is a crucial, public test of the IMF’s anti-corruption strategy and could be a model for how the institution tackles this issue in the future,” said Isabel Munilla, policy lead for extractive industries transparency at Oxfam America. “The government’s continued attacks on good governance activists and organizations throughout the loan negotiation process is one of many indicators that a vote is premature.”

Equatorial Guinea’s vast oil wealth and small population place it among the countries with highest per capita income in Africa, yet endemic mismanagement and corruption have left it financially unprepared for a slump in oil prices and production. Corruption investigations in the United States, Spain, France, Switzerland, South Africa, and elsewhere have exposed how the president and his inner circle have siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, even as the government spent little on meeting its obligations on rights to health, education, or water to improve the lives of ordinary citizens.

“An international trail of staggering corruption follows the president’s son, who is still vice president, including a recent Swiss corruption investigation that turned up two yachts worth $250 million that he uses as pleasure boats but the government said it owns,” said Tutu Alicante, executive director of EG Justice, which promotes human rights and good governance in Equatorial Guinea. “The fact that Equatorial Guinea’s government would rather saddle the public with debt than sell these yachts says a lot about its spending priorities and the real risk that the IMF money will help subsidize the lavish lifestyles of the elite.”

Prior to beginning loan negotiations, the IMF required Equatorial Guinea to implement several governance-related measures. That included ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in 2018 and hiring an independent firm to audit its state oil company, GEPetrol.

However, it has been unable to complete a requirement to apply to join the EITI, a global standard that requires member countries to advance transparency and allow free civil society participation and public debate around natural resource governance issues. It appears that meeting the requirement will be a loan precondition.

Meanwhile, government authorities continued their campaign against CEIDGE, the country’s leading good governance organization, formally dissolving it in July. They also continued to harass its vice president, Alfredo Okenve. These and other instances of repression and rights violations signal that the government is unwilling to make the necessary reforms to become a viable candidate for EITI. In 2010, the EITI Board rejected Equatorial Guinea’s membership because of repression. Since then, the EITI standard has adopted even more rigorous requirements for governments to respect civil society participation as a key element of its goal of advancing accountability in the natural resource sector.

“Over the past year, while my government has been promising the IMF it is working on an application to EITI, I was beaten up, prevented from leaving the country, and placed under house arrest, and my NGO was formally dissolved,” Okenve said. “Submitting an EITI application means nothing if the government doesn’t need to prove it has reformed enough to become a candidate country.”

“Joining the EITI is not a box-ticking exercise,” said Elisa Peter, executive director of Publish What You Pay. “The EITI Standard sets the bar high for transparency in the extractive sector, and for free and meaningful civil society participation. Equatorial Guinea should embrace this opportunity to reform its natural resource sector, tackle corruption, and allow everyone to speak out without harassment or threat. Only then can extraction bring positive change to the lives of its people.”

Equatorial Guinea also lacks a basic legal framework for preventing corruption and holding corrupt officials accountable. The vice president has frequently defended himself against international money laundering accusations by arguing Equatorial Guinea has no laws preventing conflicts of interest by senior officials, a position the government has echoed. The government awards valuable contracts without any transparency regarding the companies and individuals who reap millions of dollars, and officials do not need to publicly declare their assets or stakes in companies.

“The IMF has a rare opportunity to bring real reform to a government that has been scamming its citizens for decades,” said Marta Colomer, Amnesty International West and Central Africa senior campaigner. “This should be an opportunity to promote human rights and good governance in Equatorial Guinea – in particular to protect freedom of association for independent civil society organizations like CEIDGE and demonstrate support for human rights defenders.”

Civic Space in Equatorial Guinea – Information and Recommendations from civil society

The existence of an enabling environment for civil society – and particularly the ability for civil society to participate freely and actively in the EITI process as well as to contribute to debates about natural resources governance – is central to the EITI process.

In line with EITI Requirement 1.3 civil society needs to be fully, actively and effectively engaged in the EITI process. The Civil Society Protocol, incorporated into the Standard in January 2015, further clarifies how the requirement of an “enabling environment” should be interpreted and reiterates that civil society participation is a cornerstone requirement to join the Initiative:

The participation of civil society is fundamental to achieving the objectives of EITI, including Principle 4 which states that “public understanding of government revenues and expenditure over time could help public debate and inform choice of appropriate and realistic options for sustainable development”. The active participation of civil society in the EITI process is key to ensure that the transparency created by the EITI leads to greater accountability.

Against this background, and following a request from the EITI Secretariat to receive information regarding the current situation of civic space in Equatorial Guinea, we* wish to present some elements that, we hope, will be helpful to the EITI board in assessing whether the country complies with the necessary requirements for a potential candidacy to the EITI as well as to engage with the authorities of Equatorial Guinea on civic space issues.

Access the document with key recommendations from civil society here.

Equatorial Guinea: Leading human rights organisation forced to shut down, despite government pledge to improve civil society participation and join global oil and gas accountability initiative

A group of civil society organisations* condemn the move and call for the immediate reinstatement of the organisation

Today, Publish What You Pay, Oxfam America, Natural Resource Governance Institute, Global Witness, EG Justice and LOGI Lebanon* firmly condemned the unwarranted dissolution of the Center for Studies and Initiatives for the Development (CEID), a prominent and respected human rights organisation in Equatorial Guinea.

This decision follows the government’s announcement of its intention to rejoin the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global initiative for good governance in the oil, gas and mining industries. It also follows the government’s opening of a bidding round to attract new oil and gas investors.

“Investors should take note. CEID is the leading human rights, transparency and development organisation in Equatorial Guinea. Its work supports many other civil society groups and individuals in the country. Dissolving it makes its activities illegal. This will have a chilling effect for many activists who will rather stop their important work rather than face reprisals.” said Elisa Peter, Executive Director of Publish What You Pay (PWYP), “This is a red flag for the EITI Board, as well as investors seeking a stable investment climate.”

The EITI requires the government of Equatorial Guinea to protect civil society’s ability to participate and comment publicly on the management of oil, gas and mineral resources. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is requiring Equatorial Guinea to implement the EITI as a condition for a loan under negotiation. The small size of the country’s population – under 1.3 million people, smaller than 35 of Africa’s largest cities – means that the poor treatment of one of the last government’s prominent critics and their organisations creates a ripple effect that silences all criticism. This is in direct conflict with the requirements and mission of the EITI.

“We are watching the case of Equatorial Guinea very closely. The country’s appalling human rights record and the inability of the government to allow public criticism of its governance raise fundamental questions about its capacity to meet the basic requirements of the EITI,” said Diana El Kaissy, Executive Director of the Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative (LOGI) and alternate EITI Board Member. “It is critical that the government demonstrates to the EITI, its citizens and the international community its seriousness in addressing these systemic and very well-documented problems. ”

The recent attack against CEID follows a clear pattern of intimidation and harassment to silence criticism. Since 2010, the organisation and several of its members have been the subject of systematic harassment, violent physical assaults, criminalisation, arbitrary arrests, and detentions and smear campaigns. The most recent decision to dissolve CEID is the latest attempt by the government to shut down one of its most vocal critics. The government’s previous suspension of the organisation in 2016 invoked the same reason, for allegedly ‘carrying out political activities’ illegally. The most recent suspension follows the brutal beating and arrest of CEID’s Vice President Alfredo Okenve, and the appearance of the country at its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the Human Rights Council, a process in which CEID participated actively to expose ongoing human rights abuses.

“The dissolution of a civil society organisation is one of the severest types of restrictions of the right to freedom of association and should only be used when there is a clear and imminent danger resulting in a flagrant violation of national law, in compliance with international human rights law. Article 22 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights – ratified by Equatorial Guinea – provides that restriction should be enforced only if the strict principles of necessity and proportionality are respected,” highlighted Tutu Alicante, Executive Director of EG Justice, an organisation promoting human rights and good governance in Equatorial Guinea.

Civil society groups condemning the EG government’s dissolution of CEID call on the government to immediately reinstate the organisation. In a position statement attached to this release, they also call for action by the EITI Board, the IMF, companies operating in EG and the President of the Human Rights Council as well as the UN Assistant Secretary General. The group has made government officials aware of the situation, but, as of the date of this release, have not received a response on how the government plans to address the dissolution of CEID and the continued deterioration of civic space in the country.

“If Equatorial Guinea wants to continue the process of re-joining the EITI, it needs to seriously and meaningfully address its troubling civic space issues and reinstate CEID as one of the key stakeholders to be engaged in the EITI process,” concluded Elisa Peter.

< ends >

22 July – Position on Latest Attempt by the EG Government to Shut Down Civil Society

Publish What You Pay, Oxfam America, Natural Resource Governance Institute, Global Witness, EG Justice and LOGI Lebanon are deeply concerned that while the Government of Equatorial Guinea has pledged to improve its efforts on civil society participation in governance, it has intentionally taken formal action to proactively close down civic space.

We call on:

The Government of Equatorial Guinea to immediately reverse its decision to dissolve CEID and abide by the human rights obligations it has committed to along with its other recent commitments on civil society participation and the Rule of Law.
The EITI Board and the International Secretariat to remain vigilant and monitor the situation closely and to insist with the authorities in Equatorial Guinea that an application will only be considered once the country has taken concrete measures to safeguard civil society participation in resource governance, including by respecting the right to freedom of association.
The President of the Human Rights Council and the UN Assistant Secretary General to consider this case as an act of reprisals against CEID after its involvement in the UPR process and ask the authorities to reverse their decision.
The IMF to express its concerns over the continued attacks against CEID and pro-EITI and transparency advocates who demand accountability from the government in its management of public finances.
Oil companies in Equatorial Guinea, notably Exxon Mobil, CNOOC Limited, Glencore, Kosmos Energy, Marathon, Noble Energy, Orphir Energy, Tullow Oil, to immediately denounce this attack as unfit for a country wishing to join the EITI.

Global Witness

LOGI Lebanon

Natural Resource Governance Institute

Oxfam America

Publish What You Pay

EG Justice

Equatorial Guinea: A Move to Rejoin Anti-Corruption Group

Repression at Odds with Extractive Industry Watchdog’s Requirements

(Paris) – Equatorial Guinea is seeking to rejoin a group that works to curb corruption in resource-rich countries, Human Rights Watch, EG Justice, and Publish What You Pay said today. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) requires transparency around oil, gas, and mining revenue and activities and respect for civil society. The group delisted Equatorial Guinea in 2010, in part over concerns about its repression of civil society.

Before accepting an application, the EITI board should carefully scrutinize whether it includes concrete steps to address the government’s long history of civil society repression and to create an enabling environment for citizens to engage with resource governance, the groups said. The International Monetary Fund should similarly scrutinize the application before deciding whether it satisfies a requirement that would make Equatorial Guinea eligible for a loan.

“If Equatorial Guinea follows EITI’s requirements, it would bring much-needed transparency to its oil sector and protect people’s right to engage in public debate, including about government mismanagement and corruption,” said Sarah Saadoun, a business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “But the Equatorial Guinean government’s unrelenting attacks on critics calls into question whether this is a good-faith effort to apply to EITI or a check-the-box exercise to qualify for an IMF loan.”

Equatorial Guinea is a small, oil-rich Central African nation led by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has amassed enormous wealth for himself and his family during his 40 years in power. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, the president’s son who is also minister of mines and hydrocarbons, delivered a speech at EITI’s Global Conference in Paris on June 18, 2019, during which he announced his government’s intention to apply to rejoin the initiative. If accepted, it would fulfill the final requirement to make the government eligible for a loan package from the IMF under one of its current programs.

Any IMF loan without genuine and sweeping governance reform raises significant concerns given the government’s history of corruption and gross financial mismanagement, the groups said. These conditions directly contribute to the country’s significantly poorer health and education outcomes than regional averages, even though it has the highest per capita income on the African continent.

To apply to EITI, a country is required to establish a national committee that includes government officials and business and civil society representatives to develop a plan to comply with the initiative’s standards. The plan must disclose key information related to governance of oil, gas, and mining enterprises and confirm that the government fosters “an enabling environment for civil society.” Equatorial Guinea has established such a committee, though its civil society members risk reprisals if they speak against the government.

Equatorial Guinea joined the EITI in 2007 but was delisted by the EITI board in 2010. The government’s well-documented harassment of a good governance advocate, Alfredo Okenve, is emblematic of the government’s intolerance of dissent. Okenve represented civil society on the EITI steering committee from 2007 to 2010 and again between 2015 and 2017 and is the vice president of one of the country’s few independent human rights organizations.

In May 2010, he was removed from his position at Equatorial Guinea’s National University after critiquing the government’s transparency record at an event in Washington, DC. He resigned from EITI in 2017, after police held him in a police station for two weeks until he agreed to pay an arbitrarily imposed fine of more than US$3,000. In October 2018, four men, who appear to have been undercover security officials, dragged him from his car at gunpoint, drove him to a remote location, and beat him severely. Three months ago, the police prevented him from leaving the country.

The government’s reprisals against Okenve garnered international attention, but there are many similar instances of repression against other civil society members that have largely been unreported. For example, a good governance activist who is also a member of a political opposition group, Joaquin Elo Ayeto, has been in preventative detention at the Black Beach prison in Malabo since February 25, apparently for making comments critical of the government’s spending priorities.

Two civil society representatives on the national EITI committee, who asked not to be quoted by name for fear of reprisals, say that civil society repression has grown worse in recent years. One said that: “creating an ‘enabling environment’ for civil society is not about us in the EITI committee. It’s about civil society more broadly having the space to operate.” The other said: “The government doesn’t respect civil society and doesn’t engage with them beyond EITI. No progress is being made. They’re just trying to comply with EITI for the sake of the [IMF] loan.”

“EITI’s legitimacy as an anti-corruption tool is diminished if governments can abuse the process to bolster their image without the requisite political will or a genuine commitment to respect civil society,” said Tutu Alicante, executive director of EG Justice, an organization promoting human rights and good governance in Equatorial Guinea. “It would be irresponsible to give Equatorial Guinea the benefit of the doubt when an anti-corruption activist has been wallowing in a crowded prison cell since February, apparently for daring to criticize government spending.”

Prominent human rights defender under serious threats to his life in Equatorial Guinea

French version here, Spanish here

A group of human rights and anti-corruption civil society organisations* is appalled by the illegal detention and house arrest of human rights defender Alfredo Okenve Ndoho on the same day that he was supposed to receive the Franco-German Human Rights Award at a ceremony organised by the French Embassy in Malabo last Friday. Sources and previous incidents indicate he is facing serious threats to his life.

Alfredo is a prominent human rights defender who has relentlessly been denouncing corrupt practices and human rights violations in Equatorial Guinea, particularly highlighting transparency issues related to the extractive industries. He is Vice President of the NGO Centro de Estudios e iniciativas para el Desarrollo (CEID).

Alfredo came back to his native Equatorial Guinea on 16 February 2019, after receiving intensive health care in Spain following a previous brutal assault by security forces on 27 October 2018.

On 15 March, the day Alfredo was due to receive the human rights award, his cousin, a leader of the political party Unión Popular (UP) Joaquín Mangué Obama, was arrested by security forces at his home in Malabo for refusing to disclose information regarding the whereabouts of Alfredo.

That same night, as he sought to urgently leave the country for fear for his life, Alfredo was detained at the Malabo airport passport control office. Eight security officers secretly flew him handcuffed to Bata aboard a military plane. Once in Bata, he was driven to an undisclosed location until his drivers decided to go back to the city to bring him to his house in Bata, where he has been under house arrest since. He received the instruction of not leaving his house under any circumstances. His passport and mobile phone were seized by the police.

“We are deeply worried about Alfredo’s situation and the serious threats he is facing to his life” said Elisa Peter, Executive Director of Publish What You Pay. “We are concerned these attacks are not isolated incidents – several prominent human rights defenders and political activists in Equatorial Guinea have been the targets of attacks in the past few months, despite repeated calls by the international community to refrain from systematically cracking down on dissident voices.”

Civil society organisations are particularly worried that these attacks will intensify at the prospect of the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) which Equatorial Guinea will undergo in May in Geneva – in an attempt to quell dissenting voice.

We call on:

The Government of Equatorial Guinea to immediately release Alfredo and cease all acts of intimidation against him, his colleagues and family members, as well as against all activists in the country. We additionally request Equatorial Guinea to abide by its international human rights obligations, and in particular by articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which guarantee the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association, respectively.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Board – amid reopening of negotiations to join the initiative – to send a clear message to Equatorial Guinea that repression against civil society activists violates the EITI Standard, will not be tolerated and will significantly jeopardise the prospects of approval of the country’s candidature application.

The United Nations, in particular the Human Rights Council through the upcoming UPR, to urgently address and shed light on the systematically orchestrated clampdown on independent political dissents.

Oil companies operating in Equatorial Guinea, notably ExxonMobil, Kosmos Energy, Marathon, Noble Energy, Clontarf, Ophir Energy – especially those represented on the EITI Board and other EITI supporting companies, to immediately denounce this attack as unfit for a country wishing to join the initiative.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) to exhort the Government to fulfill the sign-up requirements of the EITI Standard, including on the need to provide an enabling environment for civil society participation, notably in the natural resource sector.

Signed by

CEE Bankwatch Network

DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era)

EG Justice

Front Line Defenders

Global Witness

Green Advocates

International Accountability Project

International Budget Partnership

NRGI

Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders – International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)- World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Oxfam International

Oxfam America

Publish What You Pay

Tournons La Page

Transparency International

Transparency International France

UNCAC Coalition

WoMin African Alliance

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Background Information

Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich country in West Africa, is pervaded with rampant corruption and systematic human rights violations. The majority of dissidents face harassment, intimidations, threats, arbitrary detentions, as well as physical attacks and killings. Most of them have to leave the country to be able to conduct their human rights activities and self-censorship is the rule for most activists and journalists, still operating in the country.

Equatorial Guinea has twice attempted to join the EITI – a leading multi-stakeholder initiative for transparency and good governance in the extractives sector. These applications, in 2010 and 2014, were both rejected due to unjustified crackdowns on civil society activists, including Alfredo Okenve, whose organisation was suspended in 2016 and who suffered arbitrary detentions in 2017. The country has recently made its intention to rejoin the initiative public, and has received comprehensive briefings from the EITI Secretariat on the requirements for candidacy included in the EITI Standard. In contrast to the government’s press release, it should be noted that it does not have the official backing of EITI on its candidacy, as this is not a part of the sign-up process.

Equatorial Guinea will be examined during the May session at the UPR of the Human Rights Council. It is currently a member of the United Security Council.

Civil society leader and leading human rights activist attacked in Equatorial Guinea

Plain-clothed security officers in Equatorial Guinea have reportedly severely beaten and stabbed Alfredo Okenve, a leading civil society activist and Vice-president of the Center for Development Studies and Initiatives (CEID). Okenve said the men forced him out of his car at gunpoint on 27 October and carried out a prolonged attack, before abandoning him on deserted land.

Article 19, CIVICUS, EG Justice, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, NRGI, Oxfam America and Publish What You Pay (PWYP) join other international organisations including Amnesty International in strongly condemning this brutal assault.

“Alfredo Okenve is a prominent anti-corruption and human rights activist with a track record in promoting good governance, including in the extractive sector. He and CEID have the right to carry out this important work unimpeded,” said PWYP’s Executive Director, Elisa Peter.

Equatorial Guinea’s government has not responded to requests for comment on the allegations. Alfredo Okenve said the attackers appeared to have been targeting his brother Celestino, head of an opposition political party, but continued to beat him even after confirming his identity – the latest in a string of assaults and harassments he has endured on the part of the authorities.

Equatorial Guinea has twice attempted to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – a leading multi-stakeholder initiative for transparency and good governance in the extractives sector. These applications, in 2010 and 2014, were both rejected due to unjustified crackdowns on civil society activists, including Alfredo Okenve, whose organisation was suspended in 2016 and who suffered arbitrary detentions in 2017.

The country is applying for a third time to join the EITI this year, as a precondition for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consider giving the government a loan. We urge the EITI to consider this new application only if the government of Equatorial Guinea addresses civic space issues seriously and consistently, and brings those responsible for the recent attack on Alfredo Okenve to justice. We also call for oil companies operating in Equatorial Guinea – especially on the EITI Board – and other EITI-supporting companies to immediately denounce this attack as unfit for a country wishing to rejoin the initiative.

“While PWYP welcomes Equatorial Guinea’s efforts to join the EITI, the government‘s continuing repression of civil society suggests a lack of genuine commitment to the principles of citizen participation and accountability in the governance of the country’s oil wealth,” said PWYP Africa Steering Committee Chair, Tiemoko Sangare. “At a time when the country is reapplying for EITI membership – albeit linked to conditions for an IMF loan – the government is clearly violating the EITI Standard, which requires it to provide an enabling environment for civil society.

PWYP calls on Equatorial Guinea to commit in deed as well as word to the EITI Standard, starting with allowing civil society activists to play their oversight role free from abuse.

We will continue our practical and moral support for civil society in the country – and all other countries where PWYP members face repression in their efforts to ensure that natural resources are used for the benefit of all citizens.”

Signed by

Article 19

CIVICUS

EG Justice

Global Witness

Human Rights Watch

ICAR

NRGI

Oxfam America

Publish What You Pay

Equatorial Guinea: Free Human Rights Defenders

2 Prominent Activists Arbitrarily Detained

(April 21, 2017) – Equatorial Guinean authorities should immediately release two men who head the country’s leading human rights organization, seven human rights and transparency organizations said today.

The police detained Enrique Asumu and Alfredo Okenve, who head the Center for Development Studies and Initiatives (CEID), on April 17, 2017, and have exceeded the 72-hour period that Equatorial Guinean law permits them to detain a person without charge.

“The authorities have a long history of harassing, arbitrarily detaining, and generally interfering with the work of human rights defenders in Equatorial Guinea,” said Tutu Alicante, executive director of EG Justice, which monitors human rights abuses in Equatorial Guinea. “This latest incident shows the authorities’ willingness to trample on the country’s due process laws to intimidate and silence dissent.”

The organizations raising their concerns about the detention are Human Rights Watch, EG Justice, Publish What You Pay, Transparency International, the UNCAC Coalition, the International Anti-Corruption Conference, and Amnesty International.

Asumu is the president, and Okenve vice president, of CEID. On April 16, authorities prevented Asumu from boarding a flight from the country’s island capital, Malabo, to the mainland city of Bata, claiming they were acting on the orders of the minister of national security, said a colleague of Asumu’s who was present and Asumu’s lawyer.

The following day, Asumu and Okenye visited the ministry’s offices, which are housed in same building as the Central Police Station in Malabo. The national security minister interrogated the two men in his office for more than five hours, said two colleagues who accompanied them to the meeting and waited outside. After the meeting ended, at about 6 p.m., the authorities prevented Asumu and Okenve from leaving the building, and they continue to hold them there.

The police have permitted the colleagues, as well as family members, to visit Asumu and Okenve, and have allowed them access to their lawyers. But the authorities have not brought them before a judge, which the law requires within 24 hours. Nor have the authorities charged them, which under Equatorial Guinean law must take place within 72 hours.

The Ministry of the Interior ordered CEID to suspend its activities indefinitely in March 2016. Colleagues who have spoken with Asumu and Okenve said that the authorities have threatened to fine them 10 million CFA francs (US$16,000) for violating this order.

The ministry issued the order after shutting down a youth meeting that it contends included statements by participants that constituted incitement, a charge CEID maintains is false and politically motivated. The organization appealed the suspension order, but received no response, a representative from the organization said.

The organization announced that it would resume its activities in September 2016. A representative of the organization contended that the April 2016 suspension of its operations was effective only for three months. Since then, it has organized events attended by representatives from various government ministries.

The government of Equatorial Guinea is applying to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an effort that brings together governments, companies, and nongovernmental groups to encourage better governance of resource-rich countries by fostering open public debate about the use of oil, gas, and mining revenues. The EITI requires member governments to foster “an enabling environment for civil society” and to “refrain from actions which result in narrowing or restricting public debate in relation to implementation of the EITI.”

Equatorial Guinea has been dogged by corruption scandals exacerbated by the lack of transparency related to natural resource revenues. The suspension of the country’s leading organization promoting transparency and respect for human rights, and the detention of its leadership, send the wrong signal about the government’s commitment to combatting corruption, the groups said.

“These detentions make the government’s promises to respect civil society as part of its bid to join EITI ring hollow,” said Elisa Peter, executive director of Publish What You Pay. “They threaten to topple the country’s EITI candidacy and send the message that the government will not tolerate independent voices.”

When CEID resumed its activities in September 2016, it also resumed its role as a member of the national steering committee that involves government officials, oil companies, and civil society as the first stage in applying for EITI membership. The national steering committee last met on April 12, and the minister of mines attended an event the human rights group held on April 14 in celebration of its twentieth anniversary.

“The government works with CEID when it wants to feign respect for civil society, but then keeps this suspension order hanging over it like the sword of Damocles,” said Sarah Saadoun, a business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “By bullying two of the country’s most respected human rights defenders, the government seems to be trying to silence civil society at a moment of rising anger over the country’s deepening economic crisis.”

For more information, please contact:

For EG Justice, in Chapel Hill, Tutu Alicante (Spanish, English): +1-615-479-0207 (mobile); or [email protected]. Twitter: @TutuAlicante

For Human Rights Watch, in New York, Sarah Saadoun (English): +1-917-502-6694 (mobile); or [email protected]. Twitter: @sarah_saadoun

For Publish What You Pay, in Copenhagen, Asmara Klein (English, Spanish): +45-21-22-81-35 (mobile); or [email protected]

For Amnesty International, in Dakar, Marta Colomer for Amnesty International (English, Spanish, French): +221 781 306 507; or [email protected]

Statement: Civil society crackdown undermines Equatorial Guinea’s ongoing efforts to re-join EITI

Statement on Equatorial Guinea – Suspension of CEID – Statement

PWYP is extremely concerned about the suspension of a leading independent civil society organisation, Centro de Estudios e Iniciativas para el Desarrollo (CEID), in Equatorial Guinea by the Minister of Interior who is also the country’s first Vice Prime Minister. Under an order issued by the Minister of Interior, CEID must halt all activities until further notice, including its important actions towards supporting the country’s attempts to re-join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Guaranteeing a civic space in which CSOs can operate freely is a requirement that needs to be met by any aspiring EITI country. Hence, the government’s decision to suspend CEID is incompatible with Equatorial Guinea’s ambition to re-join the initiative.

The Ministry of Interior and Local Corporations, which is the regulatory body for civil society organisations in Equatorial Guinea, has recently decided to suspend CEID based what the Ministry has described as comments inciting young people to violence and civil disobedience at a Youth Forum at the end of January in Bata. Inconsistent and unsubstantiated, these accusations are illustrative of the government’s constant crackdown on independent voices in the run-up to the Presidential elections, planned for April 2016. In Equatorial Guinea, CSOs must be registered with the Ministry to operate legally, so the suspension means that CEID is no longer properly registered, making its operations illegal. In order to comply with the suspension order, CEID has to cease all its activities and close down its office space, which has been the only meeting space available for civil society actors in Bata, the largest city in the country.

In an already restrictive environment as the one in Equatorial Guinea, this incident will have serious implications for civil society at large. Through training and by actively facilitating the establishment of coordination networks, CEID has played a crucial role in supporting independent local civil society actors. In early 2015, CEID was elected as the civil society representative to the multi-stakeholder group (MSG) which is the coordinating body of the EITI in Equatorial Guinea.

CEID’s suspension will therefore particularly affect the country’s ongoing efforts to re-join the EITI. After having been delisted from the initiative in 2010 amid concerns about the government’s failure to facilitate genuine civil society participation in the national EITI process, Equatorial Guinea announced mid-2014 that it intended to seek admission again. Since then, and under the leadership of the Minister of Mines, the government has been working with various actors to prepare the steps necessary to seek readmission. Building on its expertise from having been involved previously in the EITI, CEID has been spearheading civil society’s engagement in these preparation activities. This has included raising awareness about the EITI among wider civil society in Equatorial Guinea, organising a series of capacity building workshops over the course of 2015, assisting with the elections of civil society representatives to the local multi-stakeholder group and coordinating civil society positions on matters relating to the EITI. Without their legal registration, CEID will have to withdraw from all those activities, depriving the government of a key civil society interlocutor, confirming wider concerns about civil society actors’ ability to participate freely in the EITI in Equatorial Guinea. CEID’s suspension goes directly against the EITI Standard which requires any country wanting to become a member to work constructively and openly with the private sector and with civil society actors, ensuring that they benefit from an adequate enabling environment. Under these circumstances, Equatorial Guinea’s eligibility for EITI membership is highly problematic.

PWYP urges the Ministry of Interior to lift CEID’s suspension without delay as a first step towards welcoming civil society as equal partner to the negotiating table. PWYP further asks that the Minister of Mines, in his capacity as Head of the EITI multi-stakeholder group, implements reforms to remove all obstacles to civil society’s full, active and effective participation in the EITI, in line with the Civil Society Protocol adopted by the EITI in 2015 which defines how EITI rules on civil society participation are to be interpreted, including for countries seeking admission to the initiative.

Equatorial Guinea and EITI candidacy, slow but steady progress?

Far from the buoyant football stadiums hosting the Africa Cup of Nations, civil society groups gathered in Equatorial Guinea’s main cities, Malabo and Bata, to elect their representatives to the local EITI decision making body. PWYP was present during those unprecedented elections and reports back.

The morning was long – and sweaty. The civil society activists that gathered that Saturday to elect their representatives had the privilege of being hosted by the Delegation of the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy but had to go without air conditioning as the room came without electricity. Indeed Equatorial Guinea is known for its many paradoxes, notably the paradox of plenty. Despite its natural riches Equatorial Guinea fails to provide basic services – such as running water, a functioning health or education system, reliable infrastructure and others – to its citizens. Poor governance of oil revenues, which make up to 90% of the national budget, has led to little development for the 740 000 citizens who live in Equatorial Guinea.

It is in this context that international actors such as the World Bank, transnational oil companies including Exxon Mobil and Hess Corporation, as well as members of the PWYP coalition, have called on the government to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) as a first step towards a more accountable governance of oil resources in Equatorial Guinea. After announcing its intention to join the EITI in 2006, Equatorial Guinea effectively implemented the EITI between 2008 and 2010. But in April 2010, the EITI International Board decided that the country was not meeting the requirements, particular with regards to ensuring the free participation of local civil society. When delisting Equatorial Guinea that year, the international Board encouraged the government to re-apply as quickly as possible. It took a few years but the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy has been taking the lead over the past months in preparing the country to re-apply and a series of informative workshops were organised in Malabo and Bata last autumn.

The next step was the establishment of the local multistakeholder group (MSG), which would be responsible for the implementation of the EITI at the national level. Representatives from extractive companies, state agencies involved in the EITI implementation and from local civil society, all have an equal say in the decision-making process. Yet, while in 2008, the government unilaterally nominated civil society representatives to sit on the MSG in Equatorial Guinea, it was clear that this approach would not be an option in 2014. Not only did the rules of the EITI change in 2013 with the adoption of the new Standard, which proscribes any government interference in the selection process of civil society and company representatives to the MSG; local civil society groups have also coalesced in 2011 to form a coordinated network, the Coordinadora, thereby forming a united front. This is how the member organisations of the Coordinadora refused to recognise the government appointed civil society representatives in 2012 and succeeded in obtaining the cancellation of the initial nomination, in favour of an open and independent selection process.

The latter was carried out by the coordinating entities of the Coordinadora. The EITI workshops, to which many CSOs were convened, were used as an opportunity to consult on selection criteria and process. Seven criteria, including having EquatorGuinean citizenship, having received training on EITI or not holding a high position within an extractive company or the state administration, were collectively approved and a call for application was broadcasted on national television and radio. Turn-out in Malabo and Bata was good with a total of approximately 50 people, representing around 30 different organisations. Five civil society representatives were chosen in each city and the ten selected representatives will have the opportunity to vote and choose who amongst them will have a full and alternate position.

The ability to hold independent elections represented a victory for local civil society and was perceived as important progress towards ensuring a free, effective and independent civil society participation in the EITI, which is still seen as the key sticking point of a renewed candidature.

Indeed civil society activists face significant legal and practical obstacles to being able to operate independently in Equatorial Guinea. Gatherings of more than ten people require obtaining official permission, as does work with local communities for instance. Availability of funding is very scarce – while an official support fund worth millions of dollars does exist, an opaque management does not allow to track how those funds are being allocated and for what purposes. Moreover, foreign funding remains officially banned. Equally, if not more worrying are the arbitrary detentions and retributions to individuals who dare speak up against the regime. In April 2010 Alfredo Okenve voiced concern at a conference in Washington about how the government was handling its oil wealth, as a result he was immediately sacked from his university post. These types of retributions have had a chilling effect on the freedom of expression in a country where state-controlled media are almost the only source of information.

Publish What You Pay welcomes the encouraging but small strides made by the Ministry of Mines towards preparing for renewed EITI membership. Yet it urges the government to implement more substantial reforms to allow for an environment in which civil society can fully and actively contribute to the EITI process.