A/HRC/13/39/Add.4
74.
The Special Rapporteur finds impunity to be practically total. Except for one
case, no alleged perpetrator of torture has been brought to justice. In this context, fear
of reprisals expressed by many interlocutors, is of grave concern. Moreover, no
preventive mechanisms exist, safeguards are totally ineffective, and no compensation
and/or rehabilitation is provided in practice.
B.
Recommendations
75.
In order for Equatorial Guinea to comply with its obligations under both
international human rights law and its Constitution, the Special Rapporteur considers
it indispensible to undertake a comprehensive institutional and legal overhaul
establishing law enforcement bodies based on the rule of law, an independent
judiciary, and effective monitoring and accountability mechanisms; only if these steps
are taken, Law 6/2006, which, in principle, provides a good basis for preventing and
combating torture effectively, can be implemented.
76.
In addition to the above, a number of steps should be taken in the immediate
future to address the most urgent human rights concerns:
(a)
Implement the recommendations contained in the report on the 2007
visit of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) to Equatorial Guinea
(A/HRC/7/4/Add.3, para. 100), notably the Government should urgently end secret
detention; revise the national criminal law framework with a view to implementing
international minimum standards, including introducing effective habeas corpus
proceedings; reform the judiciary with a view to rendering it independent; and allow
civil society organizations to function independently;
(b)
Strictly separate women from adult men in all places of detention;
(c)
Bearing in mind the WGAD’s recommendation (m), introduce a juvenile
justice system and ensure the strict separation of minors from adults;
(d)
Introduce proper registration in police detention (to some extent the
gendarmerie registers can serve as an example) and establish proper registers in
prisons;
(e)
Issue a transparent set of rules allowing for regular family visits in all
places of detention;
(f)
Minimize the use of solitary confinement (see also A/63/175, paras 77-85
and annex) and refrain from using leg irons and other restraints;
(g)
Improve conditions in police and gendarmerie custody facilities; notably
provide food and drinking water and ensure that detainees have access to medical
care as well as toilets and sanitary facilities;
(h)
Regarding foreigners, the Special Rapporteur wishes to reinforce the
recommendation of the WGAD (l) to avoid the detention of foreigners, where possible
and to fully afford detained immigrants all the rights recognized by international
instruments to persons deprived of liberty, including their right to contact their
consular representations;
(i)
countries;
(j)
Refrain from using secret detention and abductions in neighbouring
Abolish the death penalty.
77.
With regard to the international community, the Special Rapporteur notes that,
as a result of the discovery of considerable oil reserves on Equatorial Guinean
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