Families of two innocent South Africans petition Pan-African Parliament to secure their release from Equatorial Guinea
24 June 2024
The families of Frik Potgieter (54) and Peter Huxham (55), two South Africans who have been unlawfully held as state hostages in Equatorial Guinea since 9 February 2023 have today handed over a formal request to the President of the Pan-African Parliament, the Honourable Chief Fortune Charumbira, asking the institution to intervene to secure the men’s urgent release.
The Pan-African Parliament is the legislative and oversight arm of the African Union, based in Midrand, South Africa. The request was handed over at the official opening of the 3rd Ordinary Session of the Sixth Parliament of the Pan-African Parliament at 13h00 today.
Shaun Murphy, spokesperson for the Potgieter family said: “Frik and Peter are citizens of the African continent, where they have lived and worked all their lives. The Pan-African Parliament’s mandate is to protect the human rights of all the continent’s citizens, and we are therefore humbly asking for their assistance in freeing these two innocent men from unlawful imprisonment in Equatorial Guinea.
“Frik and Peter are beloved fathers, partners, grandfathers, and pillars of both their families and their communities. For their families, every passing day without them is an eternity of missed moments and cherished memories that can never be regained. Their loved ones want them to come home.”
Frik and Peter, highly qualified and respected engineers, were working in Equatorial Guinea for their employer, a global oil and gas company, providing skilled expertise to projects which contribute two of the main income sources for that country, when they were arrested on fabricated drug related charges. Their arrests took place just two days after South Africa seized the luxury super yacht belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President, Teodore Nguema Obiang Mangue. Earlier, South Africa had also seized the Vice-President’s two luxury Cape Town villas.
These assets were seized following a court ruling in South Africa on a separate matter, completely unrelated to Frik and Peter. Even though the super yacht has been released, the villas remain impounded in South Africa, and the men remain in prison in Equatorial Guinea for 501 days today.
Frik and Peter are caught in the diplomatic and political crossfire between South Africa and Equatorial Guinea.
The families have appealed for the Pan-African Parliament’s intervention, noting that its mandate is a platform for people from all African states to be involved in discussions and decision-making on the problems and challenges facing the continent; and that it is mandated to promote human rights and the rule of law by all AU organs, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Member States.
Today, the families specifically called on the PAP – both the plenary and the Committee on Justice and Human Rights – be seized of this case, that they investigate the matter, and that they advocate for the immediate release of these two innocent African citizens, who have been caught in a dispute between two African nation states.
Last week, the families 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: www.freefrikandpeter.co.za
