The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for the immediate release of South African engineers Frederik Potgieter and Peter Huxham, declaring in a formal opinion that the detention of the two men in Equatorial Guinea is arbitrary and illegal.

The UN decision is a material finding that definitively confirms Potgieter and Huxham’s innocence, and that their ongoing detention in Equatorial Guinea, which is a signatory to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is a grave violation of various international human rights conventions, spokespersons for the engineers say.

Arbitrary detention, or unlawful detention, occurs when someone is arrested and detained by a government without due process and without the legal protections of a fair trial, or when an individual is detained without any legal basis for deprivation of liberty.

Spokespersons for the Huxham and Potgieter families Francois Nigrini and Shaun Murphy say there has never been any doubt about Potgieter and Huxham’s innocence. Their families, employer and the South African government have consistently maintained the men’s innocence.

“We believe their arrests were in retaliation for South African courts having seized the luxury properties and super yacht belonging to the Equatorial Guinea VP [Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue], the latter just two days prior to Potgieter and Huxham’s arrest. We have also known that their arrests and detention are illegal, and so feel deeply vindicated by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s declaration that their arrests and detention are unlawful.

“There should never be a time when one country condones the unlawful action taken against citizens of another country, and we will be leaning firmly on both South Africa and the UK [since Huxham has dual South African/UK citizenship] to take firm, decisive and immediate action to release the men. Potgieter and Huxham’s unlawful and illegal arrest in that country shows that there is scant regard for human rights and the rule of law.

“They are innocent pawns in an international spat between two countries and have suffered great hardship for almost 17 months as a consequence. It’s time that their suffering, and the time stolen from their lives, ends and they are brought back home to their families in South Africa,” Nigrini and Murphy jointly stated on July 2.

In addition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions ruling, the families have recently requested the formal assistance of the Pan-African Parliament to secure Potgieter and Huxham’s urgent release.

A formal request was handed over to the Pan-African Parliament Presidency on June 24, asking the institution to intervene to secure the men’s urgent release. They also held a peaceful protest outside the Parliament.

The Pan-African Parliament is the legislative and oversight arm of the African Union, based in Midrand.