South Africa is obliged to protect 70 suspected mercenaries...

South Africa is obliged to protect 70 suspected mercenaries held in Zimbabwe over a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, lawyers argued, saying Harare would hand the men over to Pretoria if requested to do so. David Unterhalter, an advocate for the Society for the Abolition of the Death Penalty which supported a court bid for South African intervention in the case, said the government was bound by its constitution to protect its citizens.
"In terms of the constitution, government cannot be party to cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment. The death penalty can under no circumstances be entertained under our constitution," Unterhalter said.
The 70 men, who came from South Africa, Namibia and Angola but were all traveling on South African passports, were arrested at Harare airport on March 7. The group is accused of planning to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, long-time leader of the oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in central Africa.
South African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota confirmed that "some intelligence" information had passed between South Africa and Zimbabwe before the men left South Africa on the flight to Harare.
"If you wish to pass on information that will put citizens in peril of the death penalty, you cannot avoid the constitutional obligation this places on you," Unterhalter said.
Francois Joubert, acting on behalf of the men, earlier pressed the court to ask South Africa to "take all reasonable and necessary steps" for the suspects to be extradited to South Africa to face trial. They were also seeking an order requesting the South African government to ensure that the detainees in Zimbabwe are not extradited to Equatorial Guinea.