Urgent Petition for Release on Medical, Humanitarian and Legal Grounds
The Petitioner respectfully recalls that the protection of life and human dignity constitutes one of the most fundamental obligations of any State governed by the rule of law.
Under international human rights law, certain rights — including the right to life and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — carry a special and non-derogable status. These principles are firmly enshrined in instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, binding upon States in all circumstances, including in the context of criminal detention.
Persons deprived of their liberty are entirely dependent upon the State for the protection of their health, safety and physical integrity. As has been repeatedly emphasised by international human rights bodies, detention may not be administered in a manner that places an individual’s life at risk or subjects him to conditions incompatible with human dignity.
Where credible evidence demonstrates that continued detention creates a real and foreseeable risk of serious harm or death, the State bears an immediate and heightened duty of diligence to take all necessary measures to eliminate that risk.
In the present case, the combination of a situation of particular medical vulnerability, degrading conditions of detention, the prolonged and unlawful continuation of detention beyond legal limits, and the prior finding of arbitrariness by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, constitutes a situation of exceptional gravity.
Accordingly, the Petitioner respectfully urges the competent authorities to act decisively and without delay, so as to restore compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Angola and Angola’s international human rights obligations.
Ensuring the Petitioner’s immediate release and access to adequate medical care is not merely an act of humanity; it is a legal duty arising from the fundamental principles of human dignity, the protection of life, and the rule of law.
The Petitioner signs this Petition while still hospitalised following a surgical intervention. The surgery was unsuccessful in that it did not remove the kidney stone; the problem has therefore not been resolved and the Petitioner remains exposed to the heightened risk of serious infection — as a diabetic patient — and to the risk of death.
In light of the foregoing, the Petitioner respectfully requests the competent authorities to determine, as a matter of urgency:
His immediate release on medical, humanitarian and legal grounds.
The adoption of all necessary measures to ensure his immediate access to specialised medical care in an appropriate clinical setting (including abroad).
The return of the 4 family homes (to his wife and 3 adult children with their respective families) so that they may return to their homeland and bring their forced and unjust exile to an end.
Media Contacts: