U.S. Mission to International
Organizations in Geneva

33^rd Session,
Geneva, May 13, 2019 

as delivered by Charles Bentley

The United States welcomes the delegation from Equatorial Guinea to the UPR Working Group. 

We recommend that Equatorial Guinea:

1. Investigate and hold accountable security forces and other government officials for human rights violations and abuses, including reported extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists, civil society actors, and political opposition members.

2. Allow elected members of political parties, including Citizens for Innovation, to take their seats immediately.

3. Remove undue restrictions on civil society and the media by reforming Law 1/1999 to be consistent with international obligations on the rights to freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and to streamline registration processes.

We remain deeply concerned by numerous reports of renditions, arbitrary detention, and violence by security forces, including alleged extrajudicial killings and the use of torture.  We urge the Government of Equatorial Guinea to end the intimidation of civil society, journalists, and political opposition members.  We note that the government approved a national action plan to combat trafficking in persons in early 2019, and is working to implement it with civil society and the United Nations.