世界上不只石油重要 美国不能再无视非洲人权

Close to 50 heads of state are gathering in Washington for this week’s US-Africa Leaders Summit on the theme of “Investing in the Next Generation”. Among those being feted by American politicians, businesses and investors will be a handful of older strongmen, including the world’s longest-serving non-royal head of state, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea.

近50位国家元首正齐聚华盛顿，参加本周举行的美国-非洲领导人峰会。此次峰会的主题是“投资于下一代”(Investing in the Next Generation)。在美国政治人士、企业和投资者宴请的嘉宾中，将出现几位年龄较大的政治强人，包括全球执政时间最长的非皇室国家元首——赤道几内亚总统特奥多罗•奥比昂•恩圭马•姆巴索戈(Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo)。

The US has a history of courting many African strongmen, memorably Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, Libya’s Muammer Gaddafi, Charles Taylor of Liberia and Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko. It is impossible to find an instance where turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuses has paid off for the US or Africa in the long run.

美国有着向非洲铁腕人物献殷勤的历史，这些铁腕人物中让人印象最深刻的有埃及的胡斯尼•穆巴拉克(Hosni Mubarak)、利比亚的穆阿迈尔•卡扎菲(Muammer Gaddafi)以及扎伊尔的蒙博托•塞塞•塞科(Mobutu Sese Seko)。但没有任何证据能显示，美国对非洲国家的腐败和侵犯人权现象保持漠视，在长期有利于美国或非洲。

While Mr Obiang is in Washington, back home they commemorate the anniversary of the coup that brought him to power. In August 1979, he seized control from his uncle and mentor, President Francisco Macías Nguema, who used to hang dissidents from the capital’s few street lamps. A month later, he had Macías executed by firing squad.

尽管奥比昂现在身在华盛顿，但在他的祖国，人们正在纪念当年那场让他上台的军事政变。1979年8月，他从他的叔叔以及导师弗朗西斯科•马西埃•恩圭马总统(Francisco Macias Nguema)手中夺取了政权。马西埃曾将持不同政见者吊死在该国首都为数不多的街灯下。一个月后，马西埃被行刑队处决。

How does one man manage to stay in power for so long, winning elections with up to 99 per cent of the vote, as his party has done between 1983 and 2013?

但之后，奥比昂何以能在赤道几内亚掌权这么长时间，而他的政党又何以能在1983年至2013年都以最高达99%的得票率赢得大选？

In the mid-1990s oil was discovered off the west African country’s coast; today it is the third-largest producer of oil and gas in sub-Saharan Africa. Exact figures are hard to find (classified a “state secret”) but the US Energy Information Administration puts oil production at about 318,000 barrels a day, an estimate many consider conservative. Even that would sell for billions of dollars a year.

上世纪90年代中期，这个西非国家在海上发现了石油；如今，该国已成为非洲撒哈拉沙漠以南地区第三大油气生产国。确切的数据很难找到（这些被列为“国家机密”），但美国能源情报署(Energy Information Administration)估计，该国石油日产量在31.8万桶左右，很多人认为这一估计较为保守。即便是这一数字每年也能带来数十亿美元的收入。

Such great sovereign wealth has funded lavish purchases by the Obiang family, including a fleet of Ferraris, Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis and a couple of private jets. Mr Obiang’s son and presumptive heir, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, known as Teodorín, has amassed one of the world’s finest collections of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including the red and black “Thriller jacket” and Jackson’s crystal-studded “Bad Tour” glove. He is also the focus of a corruption investigation in France, which has seized his 101-room Paris mansion, a collection of cars and other luxury assets. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.

如此巨额的主权财富为奥比昂家族的奢华生活提供了资金。他的家族拥有一个由法拉利(Ferraris)、劳斯莱斯(Rolls-Royces)和兰博基尼(Lamborghinis)组成的车队以及数架私人飞机。奥比昂的儿子、看上去将继承父业的特奥多罗•恩圭马•奥比昂•曼格（Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue，人称特奥多林(Teodorin)）收藏了一些全球最顶级的迈克尔•杰克逊(Michael Jackson)纪念品，包括一件红黑两色的“颤栗(Thriller)夹克”以及杰克逊在“Bad Tour”巡演中戴过的镶有水晶的手套。他还是法国一桩腐败调查的焦点，法国查封了他位于巴黎的拥有101个间房的豪宅、一批豪车以及其他奢侈品。不过他多次否认这些指控。

Meanwhile the average income for citizens is about $2 a day. Life expectancy is about 53 years. Clean water is scarce and child mortality rates are high. Mr Obiang has said corruption is impossible since he personally controls all financial transactions; yet in 2013 the country ranked 163 out of 177 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.

与此同时，赤道几内亚国民的平均收入为每日2美元左右。预期寿命大约为53岁。洁净水资源短缺，儿童死亡率高。奥比昂曾表示，不可能有腐败，因为他个人控制着所有金融交易；然而2013年，在透明国际(Transparency International)“清廉指数”(Corruption Perceptions Index)排行榜上，该国在177个国家中排名第163位。

In Washington, Mr Obiang and his fellow heads of state will meet members of the US government and investors interested in profiting from Africa’s economic boom. He will be guest of honour at a dinner hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa, also co-sponsor of an Equatorial Guinea Economic Forum this week. Success is likely to be measured by the value of contacts made and contracts signed. Mention is unlikely to be made of last week’s Human Rights Watch report, “Equatorial Guinea: Halt Prisoner Torture”, which details human rights abuses.

在华盛顿，奥比昂及其他非洲国家元首将与美国政府官员和有意从非洲经济繁荣中获利的投资者会晤。他将是美国非洲企业理事会(Corporate Council on Africa)举办的晚宴的贵宾，该理事会也是本周举行的赤道几内亚经济论坛(Equatorial Guinea Economic Forum)的联合发起人之一。他的美国之行是否成功，很可能会以他结交的人脉的价值和签署的合同来衡量。而上周人权观察组织(Human Rights Watch)发布的报告《赤道几内亚：停止虐囚》(Equatorial Guinea: Halt Prisoner Torture)，则不太可能被人提及，该报告详述了赤道几内亚侵犯人权现象。

There are several basic economic reforms the US government and private sector could take to help improve the situation for citizens. The US should end the system of anonymous corporations that enabled Mr Obiang’s son and lawyers allegedly to launder more than $100m of sovereign wealth into the US.

美国政府和私人部门可以通过数项基本经济改革来帮助改善该国公民境况。美国应该结束匿名企业制度。这一制度，使得奥比昂的儿子和律师能够将逾1亿美元的国家财富洗白转入美国。

As part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, the Securities and Exchange Commission should issue disclosure rules requiring oil, gas and mining companies to publicly reveal how much they pay governments for each project, allowing citizens to see how much is retained by those in power.

作为多德-弗兰克(Dodd-Frank)金融改革法的一部分，美国证交会(SEC)应该制定披露规则，要求石油、天然气和矿业公司公开披露它们为每个项目向非洲国家政府支付的资金，从而让这些国家的公民能够知道当权者从中克扣的资金数目。

In addition global actors, led by African heads of state, must pursue human rights abuses and back measures such as the creation of an independent media and electoral reform, which would help reformers in the country.

此外，非洲各国元首应当牵头全球领导人们，追查赤道几内亚的侵犯人权行为，帮助建立独立媒体和推动选举改革，声援这个国家中的改革派。

Presidential elections are due in 2016, yet there is good reason to believe Mr Obiang will hold them in 2015 to thwart attempts to send independent election monitoring teams. The world should commit itself to brokering negotiations between the regime and the opposition, and supporting local election-monitoring efforts. It could suggest to Mr Obiang, as US Secretary of State John Kerry recently did to Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila, that he does not seek re-election.

赤道几内亚本该在2016年举行总统大选，然而，有充分证据显示奥比昂将在2015年举行大选，以阻碍国际社会派遣独立选举监督团的努力。国际社会应该致力于撮合该国政府和反对派之间的谈判，并支持当地的选举监督努力。国际社会还可以建议奥比昂不要寻求连任，正如美国国务卿约翰•克里(John Kerry)最近向民主刚果共和国总统约瑟夫•卡比拉(Joseph Kabila)建议的那样。

In 2009, on his first presidential visit to the continent, Mr Obama declared: “Africa doesn’t need strongmen; it needs strong institutions.”

2009年，奥巴马就任美国总统以来首次访问非洲时宣布：“非洲不需要铁腕人物，它需要强大的机制。”

This is truer than ever. And yet instead of pressing for an end to corruption and torture, the US, along with the African Union, continues to wine and dine Mr Obiang, happy to deal with the strongman in return for oil.

这句话比以往任何时候都正确。然而，美国却和非洲联盟(African Union)一起，继续在酒宴上款待奥比昂，并乐于与这位强人打交道以换取石油，而不是推动结束腐败和酷刑。