Targeting exiles: The murky world of rendition

In the murky world of rendition, diplomatic and economic ties have proven to supersede globally acceptable constitutional imperatives, if frightening incidents of kidnappings and killings of exiles in foreign countries persist unchallenged.

In most cases, these have taken place with tacit or explicit support from high-ranking government authorities.

Against this background, it becomes important to underscore the important role South Africa and the continent should play in finding an end to this scourge.

After dragging on for 14 years, this year has seen an end to the controversial Zimbabwe rendition saga, which implicated former top SA police officer Lieutenant-Colonel Lesley “Cowboy” Maluleke.

A local court recently sentenced Maluleke to an 18-year, wholly suspended term – a slap on the wrist for a serious charge.

Maluleke was convicted on four counts of kidnapping, one charge of defeating the ends of justice and five counts of contravening the Immigration Act, when he facilitated the departure of an illegal foreigner in contravention of the law.

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Lest we forget, on 1 January, 2014, former Rwandan intelligence chief Patrick Karegeya was found dead at the Michelangelo Towers in Sandton.

At the time, Karegeya was advising South African and Tanzanian intelligence as they prepared to send troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo to fight the Rwandan-backed rebel group, M23.

Speaking less than two weeks after Karegeya’s body was found, Rwandan President Paul Kagame issued a bizarre warning that those betraying his country would face “consequences”.

The situation prompted former justice minister Jeff Radebe to expel three Rwandan diplomats linked to the murder and attempted murder of Rwandan dissidents living in South Africa.

As if we have not seen an end to rendition, another disturbing incident, in Kenya, has recently emerged. Turkish refugees were abducted by masked men and repatriated by the Kenyan government to Türkiye.

According to Kenyan foreign principal secretary Kipkori Sing’oei, the Turkish nationals were repatriated to Türkiye after a request from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

“Kenya acceded to the Turkish government request on the strength of the robust historical and strategic relations anchored on bilateral instruments between our respective countries,” said Sing’oei.

For the past two decades, Kenya has been strengthening ties with Türkiye. Nothing wrong with that.

But there is everything wrong if those relations have grown to disregard United Nations High Commission for Refugee principles. Johannesburg-based Nizamiye Complex director Faruk Turkmen has wasted no time in condemning the cowardly act by the Kenyan government in collaboration with its Turkish counterparts.

Turkmen said the Turkish government has been “implicated in a disturbing pattern of extrajudicial abductions, targeting hundreds of its nationals across different countries without adhering to international or local legal frameworks.

“These acts are carried out by operatives acting beyond the rule of law, often employing coercion, deceit and force.”

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Ayhan Cetin, executive director of the SAbased interfaith foundation Turquoise Harmony Institute, said South Africa had “a critical role to play in ensuring the safety of all residents and asylum seekers within its borders”.

As we go to bed tonight, we should remember those being returned back to their homelands – never to be seen again.