Black Beach was overthrown in a 1979 coup d'état. Black Beach holds a number of foreign prisoners sentenced for participating in a 2004 coup d'état attempt against the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. These included Simon Mann, the alleged ringleader, until his presidential pardon on 2 November 2009 on humanitarian grounds, and more recently Ramón Esono Ebalé (released in March 2018). Black Beach Black Beach (), located on the island of Bioko, in the capital city of Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, is one of Africa's most notorious prisons. It has a reputation for systematically neglecting and brutalising inmates. Medical
Human rights in Equatorial Guinea and movement; government corruption; violence and discrimination against women; suspected trafficking in persons; discrimination against ethnic minorities; and restrictions on labor rights." There were multiple irregularities in the 2009 legislative elections, but they were considered an improvement over the flawed 2002 and 2004 elections. There is a cult of personality in Equatorial Guinea around the leader. In order to improve his image, long time autocrat Teodoro Obiang hired Racepoint, a global marketing and public relations firm, for $60 000 a year to improve Equatorial Guinea's image. Transparency International includes Equatorial Guinea as one of its most 12 corrupt states. In