Black Beach


Black Beach, located on the island of Bioko, in the capital city of Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, is one of Africa's most notorious prisons. The prison was built in the 1940s during the time of the Spanish colonial rule. At first common criminals were imprisoned here, but after the independence of the country in 1968 and the establishment of the dictatorship of Francisco Macías Nguema, many political opponents were imprisoned and killed in prison. Among them, Bonifacio Ondó Edu and Edmundo Bossio.

Feared reputation

It has a reputation for systematically neglecting and brutalising inmates. Medical treatment is usually denied to inmates and food rations are said to be meager, despite the United Nations' Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners requires minimal medical treatment for all prisoners.

Noted individuals linked with the prison

Former governor

The President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is a former Governor of Black Beach Prison and his uncle and predecessor, Francisco Macías Nguema, was executed here after he was overthrown in a 1979 coup d'état.

Prisoners

Black Beach has held a number of foreign prisoners, mainly mercenaries sentenced for participating in a 2004 coup d'état attempt against the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. These included Nick du Toit and alleged ringleader, Simon Mann, until their presidential pardon on the 2nd and 3rd of November 2009 respectively, on humanitarian grounds. More recently Ramón Esono Ebalé spent 6 months in Black Beach until he was released in March 2018 after a police officer admitted to falsely accusing him based on orders from his superiors.
Several people have been jailed there in the over the 35 years of dictatorship. Among those imprisoned and tortured are many political leaders such as Rafael Upiñalo, Fabián Nsue, Felipe Ondo Obiang, Martín Puye of Movement for the Self-Determination of Bioko Island or Plácido Micó of the Social Democratic Convergence for Social Democracy.