IPNEWS-Monrovia: The African Bar Association is in receipt of a Petition from Mrs. Camilla Fabri the wife of a Venezuelan Diplomat, Alex Saab who is being unlawfully detained in Cape Verde under very controversial circumstances and in violation of International Law and ECOWAS Protocols.
The Governing Council of the Association which authorized its Human Rights and International Law Committees to investigate the matter, we hereby respectfully forward to you the results of the investigation and conclusions as follows:
(1) Upon receipt, the Governing Council of the Association immediately authorized the Human Rights Committee and the Executive Council to investigate the grievous allegations contained in the Petition. The result of the investigation reveals very serious infractions of the ECOWAS Protocols, the Charter of the African Union, gross violent violations of international Law, abuse of Human Rights and disobedience of Court Orders by the Government of Cape Verde.
(2) It is the view of the African Bar Association that unless the Cape Verdean Authorities are immediately called to order and pursue the path of the rule of Law and respect for the Vienna Convention, the ECOWAS region and the AU will soon be thrown into crisis of monumental proportion which may turn the Sub-region and the Continent into a laughing stock with dire consequences for our Diplomats and their Diplomatic Immunity.
(3) Ambassador Saab in his capacity as Special Envoy of Venezuela was traveling from Caracas to Tehran on 12 June 2020. His plane made a technical refuelling stop on the Cape Verdean island Of Sal during which he was detained. The African Bar Association finds this detention unlawful for two reasons:
i. No Red Notice had been issued at the time of the detention —it was only issued on the next day, 13 June. Neither on the day of his arrest, nor the eight months later, has any evidence of the supporting arrest warrant issued by the United States been provided to Ambassador Saab or his Defense team. The Red Notice was cancelled on 25 June 2020, yet Cape Verde continued to unlawfully detain Ambassador Saab until an extradition request from the United States arrived a week later. The extradition request, which not only had the three first pages missing, contained a copy of arrest warrant issued in the name of someone else and not Ambassador Saab.
ii. Ambassador Saab enjoys immunity and inviolability due to his status as a Special Envoy of Venezuela. He was carrying documents which identified him as such as well as the purpose of his humanitarian Special Mission to Iran. This evidence has been deliberately ignored by Cape Verde as it has bends over backwards to accommodate the external interests.
(4) Cape Verde claims that it is not bound by the ECOWAS Court decision because it did not sign the 2005 protocol which extended the Court’s authority to hear human rights cases. We regret to say that, Cape Verde is being economical with the truth and reflect the true extent of the pressure being applied upon it by external forces because:
i. Cape Verde appointed judges to the ECOWAS Court and their Chief of Justice is a member of the Judicial Committee of the ECOWAS Community.
ii. Additionally, Cape Verde has fully engaged in the ECOWAS Court proceedings by appointing a defense counsel, Dr Henrique Borges, who submitted written defense as well as engaged in oral discussions going into the merits of the case during the main hearing which took place on 5 February.
iii. Cape Verde neither opposed nor abstained from the decision of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government to approve the Supplementary Protocol. This is confirmed by the Final Communiqué of the twenty-eighth session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government held in Accra on 19 January 2005. It was issued on behalf of all the Heads of State and Government and clearly convey the views of all Heads of State and Government on the extension of the jurisdiction of the ECOWAS Court with immediate effect.
iv. Cape Verde was represented at the meeting by its then Prime Minister (José Maria Pereira Neves) who, in accordance with Article 79(2) of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, was considered authorized to exercise his function on behalf of Cape Verde. In this capacity, the Prime Minister has undertaken to apply immediately all the provisions of the Protocol, in accordance with the provisional application of the Protocol, pursuant to Article 11(1) thereof.
(5) The actions of Cape Verde violate the core principles of international Law codified in Article 2 par. 1 of the Charter of the United Nations, namely, to protect and preserve the principle of sovereign equality among States.
(6) Ambassador Saab was legally admitted to the territory of Cape Verde — he was made to purchase a “visa-on-arrival” when he was detained. Having entered Cape Verde legally, he can only be expelled from it by virtue of a decision taken in accordance with the Law.
The African Bar Association is in receipt of a Petition from Mrs. Camilla Fabri the wife of a Venezuelan Diplomat, Mr. Alex Saab who is being unlawfully detained in Cape Verde under very controversial circumstances and in violation of International Law and ECOWAS Protocols. The Governing Council of the Association which authorized its Human Rights and International Law Committees to investigate the matter, we hereby respectfully forward to you the results of the investigation and conclusions as follows:
(1) Upon receipt, the Governing Council of the Association immediately authorized the Human Rights Committee and the Executive Council to investigate the grievous allegations contained in the Petition. The result of the investigation reveals very serious infractions of the ECOWAS Protocols, the Charter of the African Union, gross violent violations of international Law, abuse of Human Rights and disobedience of Court Orders by the Government of Cape Verde.
(2) It is the view of the African Bar Association that unless the Cape Verdean Authorities are immediately called to order and pursue the path of the rule of Law and respect for the Vienna Convention, the ECOWAS region and the AU will soon be thrown into crisis of monumental proportion which may turn the Sub-region and the Continent into a laughing stock with dire consequences for our Diplomats and their Diplomatic Immunity.
(3) Ambassador Saab in his capacity as Special Envoy of Venezuela was traveling from Caracas to Tehran on 12 June 2020. His plane made a technical refuelling stop on the Cape Verdean island Of Sal during which he was detained. The African Bar Association finds this detention unlawful for two reasons:
i. No Red Notice had been issued at the time of the detention —it was only issued on the next day, 13 June. Neither on the day of his arrest, nor the eight months later, has any evidence of the supporting arrest warrant issued by the United States been provided to Ambassador Saab or his Defense team. The Red Notice was cancelled on 25 June 2020, yet Cape Verde continued to unlawfully detain Ambassador Saab until an extradition request from the United States arrived a week later. The extradition request, which not only had the three first pages missing, contained a copy of arrest warrant issued in the name of someone else and not Ambassador Saab.
ii. Ambassador Saab enjoys immunity and inviolability due to his status as a Special Envoy of Venezuela. He was carrying documents which identified him as such as well as the purpose of his humanitarian Special Mission to Iran. This evidence has been deliberately ignored by Cape Verde as it has bends over backwards to accommodate the external interests.
(4) Cape Verde claims that it is not bound by the ECOWAS Court decision because it did not sign the 2005 protocol which extended the Court’s authority to hear human rights cases. We regret to say that, Cape Verde is being economical with the truth and reflect the true extent of the pressure being applied upon it by external forces because:
i. Cape Verde appointed judges to the ECOWAS Court and their Chief of Justice is a member of the Judicial Committee of the ECOWAS Community.
ii. Additionally, Cape Verde has fully engaged in the ECOWAS Court proceedings by appointing a defense counsel, Dr Henrique Borges, who submitted written defense as well as engaged in oral discussions going into the merits of the case during the main hearing which took place on 5 February.
iii. Cape Verde neither opposed nor abstained from the decision of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government to approve the Supplementary Protocol.
This is confirmed by the Final Communiqué of the twenty-eighth session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government held in Accra on 19 January 2005. It was issued on behalf of all the Heads of State and Government and clearly convey the views of all Heads of State and Government on the extension of the jurisdiction of the ECOWAS Court with immediate effect.
iv. Cape Verde was represented at the meeting by its then Prime Minister (José Maria Pereira Neves) who, in accordance with Article 79(2) of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, was considered authorized to exercise his function on behalf of Cape Verde. In this capacity, the Prime Minister has undertaken to apply immediately all the provisions of the Protocol, in accordance with the provisional application of the Protocol, pursuant to Article 11(1) thereof.
(5) The actions of Cape Verde violate the core principles of international Law codified in Article 2 par. 1 of the Charter of the United Nations, namely, to protect and preserve the principle of sovereign equality among States.
(6) Ambassador Saab was legally admitted to the territory of Cape Verde — he was made to purchase a “visa-on-arrival” when he was detained. Having entered Cape Verde legally, he can only be expelled from it by virtue of a decision taken in accordance with the Law.
(7) We believe that the internationally wrongful acts are aggravated by the persistence of violations, despite the binding decision of the ECOWAS Court of Justice of 2 December 2020 ordering the immediate suspension of extradition pending the decision on the merits, the release of Ambassador Saab into house arrest, access to specialist medical care, unrestricted access to family and both his domestic and international Lawyers. Cape Verde has intentionally failed to comply with the decision of a supranational organization in this regard. Hence, non- execution of an international judicial decision constitutes not only a violation of the elementary and founding principles of the rule of Law, but also an aggravating circumstance for the international responsibility of Cape Verde.
(8) The actions of Cape Verde are brought into sharper focus by the fact that Ambassador Saab was appointed as an Alternate Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the African Union on 24 December 2020. Therefore, he is doubly protected by international Law both in his capacity as a Venezuelan Special Envoy, as Venezuela’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the African Union. Such dual accreditation is possible and even necessary in practice for many states, given the contemporary intensification of multilateral relations. The content of this double protection is governed by customary and conventional international Law and clarified by case Law, in particular that of the International Court of Justice as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (Article 92 of the Charter of the United Nations). The protection of its immunity and inviolability applies in the territory of the transit state with immediate effect.
(9) The African Bar Association understands from its investigations that the allegations brought against Ambassador Saab by the United States have been challenged in United States which also in our respectful opinion should put Cape Verde on the side of caution.
(10) In defense of Africa’s much cherished non-aligned position, the African Bar Association calls on the President of the African Union Commission to take immediate steps to ensure that the diplomatic privileges of African Diplomats are not put in jeopardy as Ambassador Saab and accredited Diplomat to the African Union is currently being detained in an African Country, Cape Verde.
Member States of ECOWAS must also be genuinely concerned about the larger consequences of the violation of the rulings and decisions of the ECOWAS Community Court as being presently done by the Cape Verdean Government.
(11) We believe that the mentioned facts will constitute the substantial grounds to define Cape Verdean actions as illegal in nature and those that constitute a dangerous precedent not only in its national Law, but also in contemporary international Law that protects legal order in Africa as well as all over the world.
(12) The illegal behaviour of the Cape Verde Government may going forward not only bring ECOWAS and the AU into disrepute but also open the way for big Countries to violate the diplomatic status of our diplomats for flimsy excuses or political convenience.
(13) This unacceptable situation may also encourage other Countries within ECOWAS and the AU to succumb to illegal pressures, violate ECOWAS Protocols and treaties and the Geneva Convention. This in turn will lead to chaos and a total break-down of our much cherished cohesion as a Sub- regional Group.
(14) We commend the team of Lawyers who have handled this case in the ECOWAS Court for Mr. Saab. They are not only carrying out their professional duties but defending the rule of Law and International Law.
(15) The African Bar Association finds this situation embarrassing as Defenders and Custodians of the Rule of Law and due process in the ECOWAS Region and African Continent. We therefore advise the Government of Cape Verde to tow the line of Legality, respect the rule of Law and immediately release Mr. Alex Saab to continue with his legitimate mission. If Cape Verde does not follow this path of legality, the African Bar Association may be obliged to call for comprehensive sanctions against the Country by ECOWAS, the AU and UN.
(16) Finally, in defense of Africa’s much cherished non-aligned position the African Bar Association calls on the President of the African Union Commission to take immediate steps to ensure that the diplomatic privileges of African Diplomats are not put in jeopardy as Ambassador Saab and accredited Diplomat to the African Union is currently being detained in an African Country, Cape Verde.
