Human rights situation still serious, UN envoy says

Massive detentions of political opponents have occurred since March in Equatorial Guinea, a UN official said on Tuesday. Gustavo Gallon Giraldo, the former UN special investigator for Equatorial Guinea, said in a statement that the human rights situation in the country "was still serious" and deserved close monitoring. The commission terminated Giraldo’s mandate last week. It resolved to "encourage the Government of Equatorial Guinea to implement a national human rights action plan" and called for technical assistance to the Central African country. A representative of Equatorial Guinea told the commission that "in recent years there had been no politically motivated disappearances or arrests, arbitrary detentions, political kidnappings, ethnic violence or discrimination against ethnic groups, and the political system had been transformed". However, Giraldo said: "The commission endorsed facts and statements that are at odds with reality, such as the one stating that the Government of Equatorial Guinea had ratified the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Equatorial Guinea is not a party to those treaties." He said before the end of his mandate was announced, the authorities in Equatorial Guinea had accepted that a mission headed by the Special Representative visit the political prisoners in early May. "The mission should take place with the least delay, possibly by the appropriate thematic Special Rapporteurs," Giraldo said. Before the commission reviewed the situation in Equatorial Guinea, there were divergent views on whether or not a special UN representative should continue to be tasked with reporting on human rights there. African countries on the Commission, chaired by Nigeria, asked it to terminate Giraldo's mandate, saying the situation had improved.