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afrol.com, 25 March - The Equatorial Guinean President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, on his private visit to the Unites States stated that his country by all possible means is improving the human rights situation and that it is experiencing significant changes towards democracy. Opposition voices only have one characterisation of Obiang's statements: "Big lies". President Obiang entered the podium and held a speech in the US "Freedom Forum" foundation on 20 March in front of a mixed audience of journalists, africanists and diplomats. His bottom line claims were that his country, contrary to the massive critics about the human rights situation, had made significant progress in its transition process towards democratisation, a process described as "halted" by most independent sources. The President claimed that the Equatoguinean cabinet members recently had met with the opposition, and that they were embarking on a dialogue with the aim of analysing the possible "cooperation for a democratisation of the country". All the (thirteen) opposition parties "should have their representation in Parliament," he said, while expressing his disagreement over the failure of the US to establish a diplomatic representation in Equatorial Guinea. The United States closed its embassy in Equatorial Guinea in 1995, allegedly for financial reasons. The scandalous human rights situation in the country is seen as one of the principal reasons for not re-opening the US embassy, although such a move has been proposed on several occasions (especially since US companies have gotten involved in oil exploitation on the Equatoguinean continental shelf). President Obiang in this respect claimed "the information relative to human rights springs out of foreign sources and do not reflect the progress made in Equatorial Guinea." The latest report by the US State Department on the human rights situation in Equatorial Guinea lists the country as one of the worst when it comes to press freedom and political rights. The United Nations has a special representative observing the human rights situation in the country, Gustavo Gallón, but he was not allowed to enter the Equatorial Guinea to prepare his annual report. Commenting on the international critics, President Obiang declared that "the human rights are not subject of violations. The press is free and the judiciary is independent." It was possible that some people were committing "offences", but this in no way represented the government policy, as the government was collaborating with the United Nation's Commission for Human Rights in developing a plan for a transition to democracy. ASODEGUE, the Spanish based oppositional Association for the Democratic Solidarity with Equatorial Guinea, published a strong condemnation of President Obiang's statements. ASODEGUE maintains the statements are "big lies" and only serve to demonstrate the cynicism of the Equatoguinean President. According to the group, "Obiang has being promoting the same view for several years, and made the same promises in his (official or private) visits to the United States and the European Union. Nothing has changed in Equatorial Guinea when it comes to the economic and political living conditions of the Equatoguinean people. The only changes to be found are in the bank accounts of the country's leaders." Source: Asodegue and afrol archives
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