Dear Members of the Executive Board:
We, the undersigned civil society organizations and concerned individuals, urge you to cancel the UNESCO Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences at the upcoming Executive Board meeting, February 27 – March 10.
We understand that President Obiang has proposed that the prize be renamed the “Equatorial Guinea-UNESCO Prize for Research in the Life Sciences.” Any such name change, however, fails to address fundamental issues with the prize; namely, concerns that it may be financed with funds illicitly derived from misuse of the country’s natural resource wealth and that it unjustifiably associates UNESCO’s name and mission with a government that, under President Obiang’s leadership, has contravened core human rights principles at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate.
Recent events underscore our concern. President Obiang and members of his family are the subjects of ongoing corruption investigations in France, Spain and the United States. On February 14, 2012, French authorities searched a Paris residence belonging to the Obiang family and seized two truckloads of luxury goods worth millions of dollars belonging to President Obiang’s son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption and money laundering. This followed a September 28, 2011, raid in which French police seized 11 luxury cars from the same residence. In October 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice filed two claims to seize more than US$70 million in assets belonging to that same son. The complaints document numerous examples of alleged embezzlement, extortion, and misappropriation of public funds by Equatoguinean government officials for personal enrichment.
UNESCO’s mission encompasses "the eradication of poverty […] through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.” It is deeply troubling that President Obiang and his family enjoy luxurious lifestyles that, according to these foreign investigations, are financed by corruption at the same time that most Equatoguineans live without reliable electricity, affordable healthcare, and quality education. Given this reality, and credible concerns about the source of the prize money, UNESCO should never have accepted the funds provided by President Obiang. Especially in view of recent developments, UNESCO must not make use of those funds unless it can first firmly and publicly establish that they are not the proceeds of corruption and, secondly, arrange for the funds to be spent to address urgent social needs inside Equatorial Guinea, with appropriate monitoring and safeguards.
In sum, we urge you to abolish the prize and to encourage President Obiang to use the $3 million endowment to instead improve the lives of Equatoguineans. We also feel it is essential that UNESCO put into place rules that prevent awards such as these from being considered in the future.
Yours sincerely,