'Mercenaries': DA wants answers
2004-05-02 17:56
Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance said on Sunday it was concerned about the prospects of suspected South African mercenaries getting a fair trial in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea, where they are currently being held.
The DA's Douglas Gibson said he intended to ask searching questions about how the government had handled the whole situation, particularly because the so-called mercenaries might not receive a fair hearing if tried in the countries which had captured them.
"Mercenary activity of any kind can under no circumstances be defended, due to its scurrilous history on the African continent. Yet no matter how deplorable mercenaries may be, everyone is entitled to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence before guilt. It appears that the South Africans being held in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea are unlikely to receive either of these most basic of rights."
He said the DA wanted to get clarity on the government's handling of the situation and intended to pose a number of questions in parliament to the ministers of foreign affairs and intelligence.
The DA wanted to know:
- Were the South African intelligence services aware that there were suspected mercenaries on their way to Zimbabwe? If they were, why did they not impound the plane in question before it left South Africa?
- Who took the political decision to allow the plane in question to depart for Zimbabwe; if not the President, was he advised of this decision? In this regard was the National Director of Public Prosecutions consulted about possible criminal charges being laid in South Africa?
- What were the criteria used to decide that it would be best to allow South African citizens to stand trial in Zimbabwe or Equatorial Guinea? If convicted, the group could be given the death penalty in both countries. Given the absence of a proper judicial system in either country the prospect of a fair trial does not seem very likely.
- Did the security forces co-operate with their counterparts from Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea, if so to what extent?
- Why were South African diplomatic officials so slow to intervene after the arrest of the 15 South African suspected mercenaries in Equatorial Guinea? More than 11 days were allowed to elapse before any South African official visited the group in jail.
- Why has the South African government not taken steps to bring the South Africans involved to stand trial in South Africa under the Foreign Military Assistance Act? In this regard, has the government taken cognisance of the fact that Jan Henning of the National Prosecuting Authority has stated that South Africa should have no involvement in the trial in Equatorial Guinea, as there is no chance of a fair trial taking place in that country.
- What steps will the South African government take to assist its citizens in Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe?
Gibson said party members would monitor the situation carefully. "The DA will continue to scrutinise the actions of the government in this matter, not because it is a champion of mercenaries, but because it firmly believes in the notion that all South Africans deserve to be presumed innocent until proven guilty and that everyone deserves the right to a fair trial."
- SAPA