As South Africa marks Human Rights Day on March 21, the families of Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham are calling on the South African government to continue diplomatic efforts to secure the men’s release from unlawful detention in Equatorial Guinea.  

At the same time, they are imploring the President of Equatorial Guinea to grant the men clemency.

The two South African engineers have endured more than two years of arbitrary imprisonment, despite the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) opinion in July 2024 that their detention is both unlawful and arbitrary. The UN called for their immediate release, yet they remain behind bars, their physical and mental health deteriorating, and their families left in anguish.

“[Human Rights Day] is a day when South Africa reflects on its values of justice, human dignity and freedom. It is also a moment to ask why two South African citizens remain unlawfully detained, deprived of their fundamental human rights, despite an international request for their immediate release,” say Shaun Murphy and Francois Nigrini, spokespersons for the families.

The families believe that securing Potgieter and Huxham's release is not only a matter of extreme urgency, given their ailing health, but also a test of South Africa’s commitment to protecting its own citizens from injustice abroad.

The families are urging the South African government to intensify diplomatic engagement at the highest levels with Equatorial Guinea to ensure that the situation is analysed and processed through the appropriate framework; ensure urgent intervention from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the Presidency to push for the engineers' immediate release; and demonstrate that human rights are defended not only in principle but in action.

The families have also written to President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to plead for clemency. 

"We once again appeal to President Obiang with hope in our hearts. A gesture of clemency would not only reunite two innocent men with their families but also affirm Equatorial Guinea’s fundamental commitment to principles of justice and human dignity.  

"On a day that honours human rights, we believe in the power of mercy and humbly ask him to grant it.  As quoted often by our beloved Nelson Mandela, whom we believe had a close relationship with the President of Equatorial Guinea: 'You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution'.”

The families continue to call on the South African public, civil society and the international community to support their fight for justice. A petition demanding their release remains open, with close to 16 000 signatures from around the world.