Annobón Island is a small island province of Equatorial Guinea, with a distinct Afro-Portuguese Creole culture, shaped by centuries of isolation and a blending of African and Portuguese influences. Under the authoritarian regime of Equatorial Guinea, it has endured decades of hardship marked by extreme poverty, high militarisation, scarcity of essential resources, and systemic neglect. Annobonese communities report persistent unfair treatment by the central government and a steady deterioration of living conditions, challenges that have intensified sharply in recent years.
UNPO’s 2024 submission to the Special Procedures highlighted ongoing violations, including environmental degradation and waste dumping; infrastructure deficiencies; systemic isolation and exclusion; discrimination and violence; and arbitrary arrests and political repression, encompassing restrictions on freedom of expression and media, as well as interference with freedom of assembly and movement. It disclosed how in July 2024, faced with intensifying environmental destruction and its impact on health and livelihoods, Annobonese residents and human rights defenders issued a manifesto calling for government action. Rather than respond to the community’s concerns, authorities cut mobile and internet service on the island, isolating the population from the outside world.
Shortly after, security forces detained 42 community members, including leaders who supported the manifesto and participated in peaceful demonstrations. Three months on, just five of the detainees, all elderly women, were released, accused of rebellion and violating fundamental rights. In June 2025, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) issued a formal statement condemning the arrests and classifying them as arbitrary under Categories I, II, III, and V of the WGAD’s classification system. The working group’s opinion led to the release of the remaining 37 community members, which the UNPO welcomed and celebrated. However, witnesses still report heightened militarisation, intimidation, and abuse by deployed military units a year after the arbitrary detentions took place.
In response to the issues raised by UNPO, nine UN mandate holders—including the Special Rapporteurs on the environment, peaceful assembly and association, housing, minority issues, human rights defenders, hazardous waste, and water and sanitation—together with two Working Groups, issued JALs to the government of Equatorial Guinea and to SOMAGEC in August 2025. Both letters raised the same concerns: environmental degradation, unregulated mineral extraction, arbitrary detentions, and the negative impact on the Annobonese community’s health, livelihoods, and fundamental rights. In mandate holders stressed the urgent need for accountability, consultation with affected communities, and the implementation of adequate regulatory and protective measures.
The JALs highlighted that the situation reached a critical point due to the activities of construction company SOMAGEC, led by billionaire Roger Sahyoun, which has been operating on the island since 2007. While SOMAGEC presents its airport, hotel, medical centre, school, and other infrastructure projects as positive contributions, the UN experts warned that the company’s use of explosives, uncontrolled quarrying, and the absence of environmental impact assessments have raised serious concerns about the ongoing environmental degradation.
Such activities have destroyed agricultural land, triggering sudden floods, threatening the survival of Lake Mazafín, and contaminating water sources essential for the community’s survival. They further note that SOMAGEC’s drinking-water projects do not meet basic quality standards, leaving residents reliant on long journeys to rivers for water that, while still unsafe, is considered less hazardous than the supply provided.
The UNPO welcomes the JALs as a necessary step towards accountability and strongly condemns the denial of any wrongdoing by SOMAGEC in its response letter, as well as the lack of response by the Equatorial Guinea state. It also celebrates the increasing attention the international community is drawing to the environmental degradation and human rights violations in Annobón. Most recently, a member of the Argentinian parliament, Ms. Lourdes Micaela Arrieta, initiated a draft declaration strongly condemning the unprecedented military escalation, arbitrary detentions, and environmental degradations in Annobón, becoming the first state in the world to publicly do so.
The UNPO will persist in drawing global attention to these concerns and advocating for real solutions to the hardships faced by the Annobonese community.
