Johannesburg – The United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention says the detention of South African citizens 54-year-old Frederik “Frik” Potgieter and 55-year-old Peter Huxham in Equatorial Guinea was “arbitrary and illegal”.
Frik and Peter are highly qualified and respected engineers.
The expatriate engineers were working in Equatorial Guinea for their employer, a global oil and gas company, providing skilled expertise to projects when they were arrested on fabricated drug charges.
In June last year, Frik and Peter were put on trial.
“After this sham trial, the men each received a 12-year prison sentence, and are being held in a prison reserved for political prisoners in Mongomo,” their families said.
“They were also ordered to pay US$5 million each in damages, and additional fines to be shared between them.”
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for the “immediate release” of the South Africans.
Link to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Formal Opinion: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/detention-wg/opinions/session99/a-hrc-wgad-2024-1-guinee-equatoriale-aev.pdf
Huxham has dual SA/UK citizenship.
The families of the detained men said the UN decision was a material finding that definitively confirms Frik and Peter’s innocence and that their ongoing detention in Equatorial Guinea was a grave violation of various international human rights conventions.
Francois Nigrini and Shaun Murphy, spokespersons for the Huxham and Potgieter families, said: “There has never been a shred of doubt about Frik and Peter’s innocence.
“The families, Frik and Peter’s employer, and the South African government have always believed in their innocence.
“As families, we believe that their arrests were in retaliation for South African courts having seized the luxury properties and super yacht belonging to the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, the latter just two days prior to Frik and Peter’s arrest.
“We have also known that their arrests and detention are illegal, and so feel deeply vindicated by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s declaration that their arrests and detention are unlawful.
“There should never be a time when one country condones the unlawful action taken against citizens of another country, and we will be leaning firmly on both South Africa and the UK to take firm, decisive, and immediate action to release the men.
“Frik and Peter’s unlawful and illegal arrest in that country shows that there is scant regard for human rights and the rule of law.
“They are innocent pawns in an international spat between two countries and have suffered great hardship for almost 17 months as a consequence.
“It’s time that their suffering, and the time stolen from their lives, ends and they are brought back home to their families in South Africa.”
In addition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions ruling, the families have requested the formal assistance of the Pan-African Parliament to secure Frik and Peter’s urgent release.
A formal request was handed over to the Presidency of the Pan-African Parliament on 24 June 2024, asking the institution to intervene to secure the men’s urgent release.
“It is deeply distressing to consider the toll that this tragedy has had on Frik and Peter’s bodies, and their mental well-being,” the families said in a statement.
“They have endured over 500 days in prison, and the physical and mental strain they must be experiencing is unimaginable.
“With this important and ground-breaking decision from the United Nations, we now strongly urge all involved, including governments, the oil majors (Chevron and ExxonMobil) that Frik and Peter ultimately work for in Equatorial Guinea, civil society and the international community at large, to steeply accelerate their efforts to bring them home.
“Their freedom is not just a legal obligation; it is a moral imperative.”
The families have launched an online petition, website, and social media campaign to share their story and demand their urgent release:
- Sign up and share the petition to demand the urgent release of Frik and Peter,
- Website: http://www.freefrikandpeter.co.za
Follow and share on social media:
- On X/Twitter – https://x.com/frikandpeter
- On Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/frikandpeter
- On LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/frikandpeter
