“The Special Rapporteur also expresses concern about the request for extradition of Venezuelan Ambassador Alex Saab, designated by the US in 2019, arrested during the re- fuelling of his plane in Cape Verde and detained since, despite the flagrant violation of diplomatic immunities and without any clear charges, and ignoring the repeated requests for his release from the side of international organizations and institutions. “
The United Nations has put Cape Verde on notice: the torture, arbitrary detention and violations inflicted on Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab must stop, and the government has been asked to explain itself. The situation is grave, the violations are severe, the government of Cape Verde is exposed and presented to the international community as a rogue state – a violator of human rights which is suspected of serious and persistent violations.
The government of Cape Verde is severely criticized by the United Nations for the serious and ongoing violations against Ambassador Alex Saab, arrested and arbitrarily detained in Cape Verde since June 12, 2020, in the framework of an “arbitrary” extradition procedure, instrumentalized by the United States of America. The United Nations expresses its “deep concern about the allegations of arbitrary arrest, detention and extradition proceedings against Ambassador Saab”.
In an unprecedented letter sent to the government of Cape Verde on July 19, 2021, which the United Nations has just made public a large group of independent experts from the United Nations expressed alarm at the fate of Ambassador Alex Saab at the hands of the Cape Verdean authorities, who are suspected of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, arbitrary arrest and detention, among other human rights violations.
The gravity of the situation is reflected in the fact that no less than four UN special Rapporteurs and one Working Group authored the letter and collectively put Cape Verde on notice that it must cease and desist the violations suffered by Alex Saab. These UN bodies are:
• the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention;
• the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;
• the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers;
• the Special Rapporteur on torture and other torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
• and the Special Rapporteur on the negative effects of torture on the human rights of women on the negative effects of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights.
According to the United Nations experts, prima facie, “the situation made by the highest authorities of Cape Verde would violate, in a serious, unrestrained and prolonged manner, the commitments of
