EG trial 'unlikely to be fair'
2004-07-15 14:38
Cape Town - The DA says it "cautiously welcomes" an announcement by Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma that government officials will travel to Equatorial Guinea to monitor the trial of eight South Africans accused of plotting to overthrow the regime in that country.
"However, the DA remains deeply concerned about the prospects of a fair trial actually taking place," Democratic Alliance foreign affairs spokesperson Douglas Gibson said in a statement on Thursday.
This is in contrast to reports earlier in the day that the eight alleged mercenaries will receive a fair trial, following assurances made in this regard to President Thabo Mbeki by his counterpart in the West African country, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
According to South Africa's foreign affairs, officials from their own and three other local government departments - justice, safety and security, and correctional services - will go to the former Spanish colony and monitor the trial of the eight alleged mercenaries.
The trial will take place within a month, but no firm date has been set.
Gibson said Equatorial Guinea had a notorious history of gross human rights violations.
"President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has for many decades been viewed as the one of the worst dictators in the world.
"He has instigated waves of repression, including killings and torture in prisons, which has resulted in Equatorial Guinea becoming one of the most corrupt, oppressive and anti-democratic states in the world.
"In April this year, Jan Henning of the national prosecuting authority stated that South Africa should take no part in legal proceedings in that country, as there is no chance that a fair trial can take place.
"This assessment has been echoed by Amnesty International, who stated in May this year that it has 'documented for years the routine use of torture in detention facilities in Equatorial Guinea'.
"Furthermore, Amnesty raised the concern that 'accused persons in that country are subjected to trial proceedings which routinely fail to meet international standards of fair trial'."
A further cause for concern was that when the death penalty was imposed in that country, it was swiftly applied.
"These grave concerns about Equatorial Guinea's justice system are borne out by the fact that since their arrest more than four months ago, the alleged mercenaries have not appeared in court, nor been allowed access to their lawyers. This in itself constitutes a serious violation of the men's basic legal rights," he said.
Eight South Africans and six Armenians, accused of being the advance party in a planned coup, are being detained in Black Beach Prison, outside Equatorial Guninea's capital city, Malabo.
- SAPA