US deal with Equatorial Guinean missed chance

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A U.S. deal forcing the son of Equatorial Guinea’s leader to turn over $31.3 million in ill-gotten gains misses an opportunity to expose the workings of corruption in the oil-rich nation, human rights activists said.

The Open Society Justice Initiative said putting Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue on trial would have brought “revelations that … could have been of inestimable value to expose the nature of the corruption system in Equatorial Guinea as well as the role of lawyers, bankers and other professionals who grease the wheels of abuse.” Obiang is also the country’s vice president.