Prison conditions in Equatorial Guinea are being scrutinized as Pope Leo emphasizes humane treatment and reform during his visit.
Published on 22 April 2026
Pope Leo visited one of Equatorial Guinea’s most notorious prisons and criticized the conditions of prisoners as his four-nation Africa tour draws to a close.
The head of the Catholic Church told prisoners in a prison in the city of Bata on Wednesday that they are not alone, as he delivered a message of hope during a visit that drew attention to human rights abuses and injustice that preachers have condemned for years.
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“The purpose of the administration of justice is to protect society,” the 70-year-old United States-born Pope told the 600 detainees, including about 30 women. “However, to be effective, it must always promote the dignity of each person.”
Dressed in bright orange or khaki-green uniforms, the prisoners – most of them young – all had shaved heads and wore plastic sandals on their feet. Some were wearing face masks.
Leo heard several testimonies from prisoners who gathered in a yard inside the facility. As he made the comment, it began to rain, but the prisoners remained standing outside.
The Pope also reminded officials that justice is about protecting society, but imprisonment is not just about punishing. He said, “True justice is not so much about punishing but about helping to rebuild the lives of victims, criminals and communities wounded by evil.”
In a 2023 report, the US State Department documented cases of torture, overcrowding, and deplorable sanitary conditions in Equatorial Guinea’s prisons.
‘Big scope for freedom’
Pope Leo began the 10th day of his packed African tour with a mass in Mongomo, near the border with Gabon.
During the service, with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in the congregation, the Catholic leader called for “more space for freedom” and defending human dignity.
Obiang, 83, who has been in power in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea since 1979, is the world’s longest-serving head of state who is not king, and has been regularly accused of rights abuses.
“My sympathies go out to the poorest of the poor, to families facing hardship, and to prisoners who are forced to live in conditions of often troubling hygiene and sanitation,” the Pope said.
He said that “every effort” should be made to give detainees the opportunity to study and work during their imprisonment.
Obiang’s government last year struck an agreement with the administration of US President Donald Trump to accept people deported from other countries, one of a series of such arrangements in Africa that have been criticized by immigration lawyers and advocates.
A group of 70 NGOs published an open letter on Monday calling on Leo to insist on “fair, humane and lawful treatment” of those deported and saying they are being pressured to return to their home countries.
