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On the heels of new reports suggesting cannibalism was a major part of the political platform of Liberian strongman and Pat Robertson chum Charles Taylor, Ken Silverstein happily notes that accusations of cannibalism against another American client may be overblown. Of Brigadier General Teodoro Obiang, dictator of Equatorial Guinea and beneficiary of support from the Bush administration and Exxon-Mobil:
Obiang’s exoneration as a flesh eater clearly marks a major victory for President Bush’s Freedom Agenda. Now, the only remaining human rights issues left to be addressed in Equatorial Guinea are “abridgement of citizens’ right to change their government; instances of physical abuse of prisoners and detainees by security forces; poor conditions in prisons and detention facilities; impunity; arbitrary arrest, detention, and incommunicado detention; harassment and deportation of foreign residents with limited due process; judicial corruption and lack of due process; restrictions on the right to privacy; restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press; restrictions on the right of assembly, association, and movement; government corruption; violence and discrimination against women; suspected trafficking in persons; discrimination against ethnic minorities; and restrictions on labor rights.”Let freedom reign, as it were.
--Robert Farley
