Equatorial Guinea has abolished the death penalty, state television announced on Monday citing a new law signed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

The president’s son who serves as one of the country’s vice-presidents lauded the move he called “historic” on Twitter.

The last official execution in the small country was carried out in 2014, according to Amnesty International, but international NGOs and the United Nations regularly accuse the regime of forced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture.

The measure will come into force in the 90 days following its publication in the official state journal and was approved by parliament in advance.

Equatorial Guinea follows Central African Republic in May 2022, Chad in 2020 and Sierra Leone last year in banning capital punishment on the African continent in recent years.

President Obiang, 80, has spent more than 43 years in power, a world record when excluding monarchies.

• A Tell / Africanews report