Brothers and Sisters of Cape Verde
Greetings!
I wanted to send my personal thanks to all of you who have voiced your support for my wife and daughters who have now been waiting more than 2 weeks to be granted a visa that will allow them to enter Cape Verde. The Barlavento Court of Appeal has ruled that my family is permitted to stay with me whilst I am under restrictive house arrest so there can be no excuse for the delay in issuing my family’s visa.
On the other hand, the same Barlavento Court has ordered on 31 August that I be moved to Praia from the Island of Sal as I am in urgent need of specialist medical care. Seven weeks later, whilst my health continues to deteriorate, I remain locked up on Sal.
Two court decisions, two refusals to obey court orders.
In the case of my family’s visa, your government is saying that “their entry places undue pressure on the legal system” and in the other, the police cite “security concerns.”
I am not sure what threat to Cape Verde’s legal system my wife and 4 years old and 18 months old daughters pose. Perhaps they fear that Camilla will bring a large hand bag and hit officials responsible for my arbitrary detention these past 490 days to admit what they have done is wrong. Whatever the reasons, hopefully your government will share their concern with us all!
As for security concerns that the police have about my relocation to Praia let me assure you that my defence team has provided the police with several options, all of which independent security experts have deemed as appropriate for the highly restrictive form of house arrest which the police are forcing me to endure. There is no plausible reason for my health to deteriorate whilst the police just stall.
As I mentioned above, two court decisions and two failures to comply by the government.
Unfortunately, the government of Ulisses Correia has an established track record of ignoring binding court decisions and strong recommendations from the United Nations. On March 15 and again 24 June, the ECOWAS Court of Justice, led by Cape Verde’s former Minister of Justice Judge Rapporteur Januaria Costa, ruled that my detention was unlawful, and I should be released immediately. On 8 & 16 June the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled that my extradition should be halted whilst investigations into torture and denial of health that I have made against Cape Verde officials are investigated.
Both have been ignored with a degree of arrogance that is hard to understand coming from a nation which presumably has joined these international organisations precisely because it understands that as a small nation it needs the protection that comes from being a member of an established set of rules, an established methodology of operation and a common agreement to follow long established international rules and custom.
It seems that all the aspirations of Cape Verde have been set aside in the name of political expediency. I am the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’s Special Envoy and its Deputy Ambassador to the African Union. Both positions afford me immunity and inviolability which is at the heart of the rules which govern the movement of diplomats and political agents. Rules which allow Cape Verdean diplomats to move freely around the world without fear of arrest or being impeded. Cape Verde, under the direction of the United States, is setting a dangerous precedent and one which China and Russian Federation has observed could “boomerang” back on the United States and Cape Verde.
Many of you will be free to exercise your legal right of self-determination this weekend in your presidential elections. Self-determination, which was gained with significant support from South America, not least the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. I hope you will use your vote to make sure that your voices are heard, and that the Cape Verde of the future is one that accurately reflects the aspirations of the Cape Verdean people and not just a small elite.
Venceremos!
Alex Nain Saab Moran
