Alex Saab Subjected to Cruel and Inhuman Treatment

Evidence is beginning to emerge that Venezuela’s Special Envoy Alex Saab is being denied his most basic and fundamental rights. This despite protestations from the Cape Verdean President Jorge Carlos Fonseca that Cape Verde was “a model democracy” and “known for upholding the rule of law”.

This is clearly not a view shared by Cape Verde’s new best friends from the United States. The US State Department, in its annual review of human rights and prison conditions in Cape Verde said “Prisoners complained of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. Inmates…had limited access to visitors and prison activities. The isolation cells were small, dark, and crowded. Prison conditions were harsh & life threatening”.

Saab has been held in conditions which are hard to understand if, as the Cape Verdean President claims , his country is following international norms. A two metres by two metres cell, no electricity for 23 hours a day, sanitation that would make a Mumbai slum seem luxurious and, given that Saab is a recovering cancer patient, medical care that falls well short of what is required. One can only hope that no Cape Verdean, leave alone Cape Verdean minister, ever finds themselves at the receiving end of such cruel and inhuman treatment.

What is causing concern amongst ordinary Cape Verdeans and many regional people and leaders is the long-lasting damage the current administration’s “Push-to-the-West” and away from Africa will mean for the Island State. A US$250 million shiny new embassy, a strategic listening outpost and a permanent base may carrots that are dangled in front of the Cape Verdean Executive, but the proverbial stick is a heavy one and one whose weight is not going to be felt by ministers and well-heeled civil servants in Praia if the Master’s wishes are ignored..

Just how many of the promised Dollars will find themselves into the local economy? How much will Cape Verdeans benefit? Experience has shown from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan that the answer is very little. Like the cruise ships that were going to bring tens of thousands of eager fat-walleted tourists to the Caribbean if only there were adequate docking facilities but eventually turned out to be a mirage, what happens once they were built?

The cruise operators put-up stalls for trinket sellers who paid a fancy price to become preferred vendors and ply their wares immediately passengers disembarked or just before they reboarded, leaving tourists satiated and unwilling to spend much in the broader community. Large compounds have a habit of importing all their hot dogs, ********* and Cheerios straight from the Land of the Brave and the Home of the Free leaving scraps to be fought over by local suppliers.

More worrying than the lack of any meaningful carrot, is the way that in its rush to please its new colonial masters, Cape Verde has shown a complete disregard for its obligations under the UN Charter, the African Union Charter and several other multi-lateral organisations. Inexcusable, however, is how Cape Verde has forgotten what it means to show compassion and humanity. Those who say that Cape Verde has sold its soul are not wrong.