A private legal practitioner, Femi Falana says the president of Cape Verde misled the public when he stated recently that Cape Verde's judiciary is looking into the directive of the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the detention of Venezuelan businessman and diplomat, Alex Saab and will decide the country's action on it.
The lawyer, who is part of Mr. Saab's legal team said the order by the UN committee is not subject to review of any domestic court including Cape Verde's.
In a statement, Falana said President Jorge's Fonseca position on the matter appears inconsistent.
"When the ECOWAS Court ordered the immediate release of H.E. Alex Saab from illegal custody and termination of the extradition proceedings pending in Cape Verdean courts, President Fonseca said that Cape Verde was not bound by the decisions of the Regional Court. When the Supreme Court of Justice of Cape Verde ruled that the immunity of H.E. Alex Saab was a political decision the Government ignored the ruling," he said.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee on June 8, 2021, issued a directive to Cape Verde to put on hold any attempt to extradite businessman Alex Saab to the US to face charges of corruption in that country.
The directive followed a submission from Mr. Saab to the Committee on his situation.
The directive was to allow the Committee time to look into the matter by getting Cape Verde's response to the submission as well.
Cape Verde is yet to comply with the order as President Jorge Fonseca said he has no role to play in its enforcement.
The president said the entire decision is in the hands of the judiciary.
"In a system like ours, only a judge can arrest or release because only a judge has the jurisdictional power to remove or restore freedom. There may be countries where this is possible. But not in Cape Verde... I have no interest in that. I may have an opinion, but it's not worth anything. The opinion that counts is the opinion of the Constitutional Court... But the decision that matters here is the decision of the courts. Because, whatever the TC decides, is decided, and is complied with," the president told journalists in Praia earlier this week.
But Femi Falana has challenged his position, saying that "this is grossly misleading as President Fonseca is not unaware that the decisions of the United Nations Human Rights Committee are not subject to the review of domestic courts of Cape Verde," he stated.
Meanwhile, after being briefed about the ongoing issues, the UN Human Rights Committee in another letter dated June 16, 2021, to Cape Verde has reiterated its call on the country to ensure that Mr. Saab receives appropriate healthcare while the other directive of his release is also complied with.
"In the light of the information before it concerning the alleged deterioration of the author’s health, the Committee has reminded the State party of its request for interim measures of 8 June 2021, in particular whereby the State party has been asked to take all necessary measures to ensure access to appropriate health care for the author, preferably by independent and specialized physicians of his choice," the Committee said.
Femi Falana is one of the lawyers of Alex Saab