National Dialogue in Equatorial Guinea
21.10.2014
Question for written answer E-008196-14
to the Commission
Rule 130
Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (ALDE)
In November the Equatorial Guinean dictator Teodoro Obiang will launch a National Dialogue with the opposition at home and abroad, supposedly with the aim of bringing democracy to the country. Past experience and the legal basis underpinning the process — the law on parties and the Constitution — do not augur well, especially for the country’s national minorities, which are explicitly prohibited from participating in the political system. This basis has been used for the continuing persecution of minorities such as the Bubi people, and to justify repression ranging from restrictions on freedom of expression to arbitrary arrests and killings. In view of the risks to those participating in the National Dialogue, some of whom are nationals of various European countries, and of the values at stake:
- 1.Will the Commission be monitoring this process of dialogue in any way?
- 2.Has the Commission taken any action to encourage a genuine transition to democracy in this former Spanish colony?
- 3.How does the Commission view the political situation in Equatorial Guinea?