Equatorial Guinea’s jail situations face scrutiny as Pope Leo pushes for humane remedy and reform throughout his go to.
Printed On 22 Apr 2026
Pope Leo has visited considered one of Equatorial Guinea’s most infamous prisons, criticising situations for inmates as his four-nation Africa tour headed in direction of a detailed.
The top of the Catholic Church on Wednesday advised inmates on the jail in Bata metropolis that they don’t seem to be alone, as he delivered a message of hope throughout a go to that drew consideration to human rights abuses and injustices that campaigners have denounced for years.
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“The administration of justice goals to guard society,” the United States-born pontiff, 70, advised the 600 detainees, together with about 30 ladies. “To be efficient, nonetheless, it should all the time promote the dignity of each particular person.”
Wearing shiny orange or khaki-green uniforms, the inmates — most of them younger males — all had shaved heads and wore plastic sandals on their ft. Some wore face masks.
Individuals use umbrellas to shelter from the rain as they wait on a road for Pope Leo XIV to cross by, in Bata, Equatorial Guinea [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters]
Leo listened to a number of testimonies from prisoners who had gathered in a yard inside the power. As he made remarks, it started to rain, however the detainees remained standing exterior.
The pope additionally reminded authorities that justice is supposed to guard society, however that incarceration just isn’t meant to be punishment alone. “True justice seeks not a lot to punish as to assist rebuild the lives of victims, offenders and communities wounded by evil,” he stated.
In a 2023 report, the US Division of State documented circumstances of torture, excessive overcrowding and deplorable sanitary situations in Equatorial Guinea’s prisons.
‘Larger room for freedom’
Pope Leo was on the tenth day of his African tour, following a packed schedule that started with a mass in Mongomo, close to the border with Gabon.
Throughout the service, with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo within the congregation, the Catholic chief known as for “better room for freedom” and for human dignity to be safeguarded.
Obiang, 83, who has been in energy in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea since 1979, is the world’s longest-serving head of state who just isn’t a monarch, and has commonly been accused of rights abuses.
Inmates line up as Pope Leo XIV visits the Bata Jail in Bata [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters]
“My ideas go to the poorest, to households experiencing problem, and to prisoners who are sometimes compelled to reside in troubling hygienic and sanitary situations,” the pope added.
He requested that “each effort” be made to permit detainees the chance to review and work throughout their confinement.
Obiang’s authorities final 12 months struck a take care of the administration of US President Donald Trump to just accept deportees from different nations, one in a collection of such preparations in Africa which have drawn criticism from immigration legal professionals and advocates.
A gaggle of 70 NGOs printed an open letter on Monday calling on Leo to push for “truthful, humane and lawful remedy” of the deportees, saying they have been being pressured to return to their house nations.
