Guinea
Obiang prize goes down to the wirePosted Oct 14 2011
In 2008, the president of Equatorial Guinea made a $3 million donation to UNESCO to underwrite a prize in the life sciences. However, there has been a recent outburst of opposition from human rights groups, press freedom organizations and governments criticizing Obiang for kleptocracy and human rights abuses, according to a Committee to Protect Journalists article.
Public pressure eventually forced UNESCO’s executive board to reach a face-saving agreement to suspend the prize while promising “to continue the consultations among all parties,” according to the article.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote a powerful op-ed bemoaning Equatorial Guinea’s record of “torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and harassment of journalists and civil society groups,” he said in a Think Africa Press article.
Some say it may be up to African leaders to facilitate action, as Obiang is unlikely to withdraw the prize.