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Working together to pursue a human rights based foreign policy

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A Polisario demonstration for the independence of Western Sahara, held in Madrid, November 11, 2006, outside the Foreign Office. We have a responsibility to ensure that the last colony on the African Continent – Western Sahara – is liberated and enjoys the freedom and independence enjoyed by the other 55 states of our Continent, the writer says. – Picture: Wikimedia Commons

By Alvin Botes

South Africa is going through unprecedented times as we move forward in a Government of National Unity (GNU) where the parties have agreed to work together to address the most pressing challenges facing our nation.

What we cannot afford to compromise on is the pursuance of a progressive foreign policy agenda which reflects Nelson Mandela’s commitment that “human rights will be the light that guides our foreign affairs”.

Prior to the 1994 elections, Mandela penned an article for Foreign Affairs in which he set out the ANC’s vision for foreign policy, and the role it wanted South Africa to play on the international stage.

Mandela committed that under an ANC government, South African foreign policy would be based on “our belief that human rights should be the core concern of international relations”.

It was Mandela’s conviction that considerations of justice and respect for international law should guide the relations between nations. This is just as true today as it was 30 years ago. Today we are still committed to carrying out Madiba’s legacy in our international relations.

As President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated in his inauguration speech, the parties participating in the GNU have adopted a Statement of Intent in which they have committed to pursue a foreign policy based on human rights, solidarity, and peace.

We will also work together to promote multilateralism for a fairer, more equal, just, and compassionate world founded on solidarity and universal human rights.

The positions that the ANC-led government has taken on the pressing foreign policy issues of our time have reinforced our post-1994 legacy as a champion of human rights and solidarity with the oppressed.

For this moral fortitude, people around the world have lauded our foreign policy positions, never more so than during the case we presented this year at the International Court of Justice to save the lives of Palestinians who continue to face an ongoing genocide.

It was the obligation of every State party to the Geneva Convention to take Israel to the ICJ and ensure that no country can continue to commit genocide with impunity. The ICJ rulings on our case to date have been a victory for international law, human rights, and above all, for justice.

Last year our government also laid charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and after lengthy deliberation, we were pleased that the ICC Chief Prosecutor decided to file an application for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

This is a milestone in the history of international criminal law and will contribute to the consolidation of a rules-based international order. The decision of the prosecutor is significant as it underscores the fact that Israeli officials are not immune from international law principles.

There must be criminal accountability on the part of Israeli leaders for the deaths of well over 38,000 people, not to mention the thousands who have died agonising deaths under the rubble.

The world expects South Africa to continue to exercise leadership on the global stage to exert pressure for the protection of the rights of the Palestinians and ensure their survival as a group. We will never shirk our responsibility in this regard, and we will walk hand in hand with the

Palestinians until the day they realise their freedom and self-determination, throwing off the yoke of the colonial settler project.

Similarly, we have a responsibility to ensure that the last colony on the African continent – Western Sahara – is liberated and enjoys the freedom and independence enjoyed by the other 55 states of our Continent.

The existing UN resolutions calling for a referendum on self-determination need to finally be implemented. It is for the African Union and the UN to ensure that a legitimate free and fair referendum takes place so that the suffering of the Sahrawis languishing in camps in the middle of the Algerian Sahara Desert can finally enjoy the human security and promising future that their children so richly deserve.

Morocco’s colonisation of Western Sahara has been continuing since 1975, with the Moroccan monarchy violating the human rights of the Sahrawi people.

Just as in other cases of colonial occupation, Sahrawi children suffer from malnutrition, journalists are thrown in prison, and international observers are denied access to the occupied territories.

Problems of malnutrition are partly due to the fact that Morocco currently blocks the Polisario’s access to the occupied territories, making it difficult to deliver humanitarian assistance to the local population.

Just as in the case of Palestine, Western companies and governments are helping to maintain the occupation of Western Sahara. The economic exploitation of Western Sahara without the consent of the Sahrawi people is in clear violation of international law.

Our freedom will never be complete without the freedom of the Palestinians and the Sahrawis, which is why these issues will remain an important component of our foreign policy agenda going forward.

South Africa under an ANC-led GNU will also never turn its back on the Cuban people in their struggle against the illegal economic blockade imposed by the United States which is now in its 63rd year.

The masses in our country have always stood by their Cuban brothers and sisters in their struggle for justice and the right to pursue their own political system and model of development. This is the right of every sovereign independent nation to determine the course of their own destiny and provide for their people.

The illegal blockade continues to make it impossible for Cubans to access the necessary food, medicine, and fuel that they need, and despite their deprivation, Cubans have not been brought to their knees and will never capitulate to foreign pressure and dictates.

As the great revolutionary leader of Cuba president Fidel Castro said: “We must unite today to build the tomorrow we yearn for, to vindicate the always excluded, and to rescue faith in humanity.”

South Africans understand the importance of international solidarity, and until Cuba is liberated from the choke-hold of stifling sanctions, we will continue to support their just cause in every way possible.

As we chart a new roadmap for the future under shared governance, we will never betray our values and principles, which are what brought about liberation in our own country.

* Alvin Botes is South African Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation

** The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The African