According to a new law that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo signed, Equatorial Guinea has abolished the death penalty.
One of the nation's vice presidents, who also happens to be the president's son, praised the action on Twitter, calling it "historic."
According to Amnesty International, the latest legal execution in the small nation occurred in 2014. However, foreign NGOs and the UN continue to accuse the dictatorship of torture, arbitrary detention, and forced disappearances.
The law was already approved by parliament and will go into effect 90 days after it is published in the state newspaper.
Equatorial Guinea will abolish the death penalty on the African continent in May 2022, just as the Central African Republic, Chad, and Sierra Leone did in the previous three years.
When monarchs are excluded, President Obiang, 80, has held office for more than 43 years, setting a world record.