Pretoria - South Africa has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to combat without fear of favour the scourges that continue to undermine human rights.
South Africa said the inter-governmental body tasked with safeguarding human rights must fight with renewed vigour the insurgence of extremism, terrorism and other inhumane acts.
“The council must have the same collective commitment without fear, favour or selectivity in dealing with these vexing issues. If the ever-elusive notion of universal justice is to be realised, these must be addressed,” International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Luwellyn Landers said on Tuesday.
He was speaking in Geneva during the UNHRC’s 31st session. Deputy Minister Landers said South Africa joins the rest of the countries in the South in their desire to see developing countries receive equal and undivided attention.
The UN structures and institutions established in 1945, he said, needed to rise above the challenge of tackling contemporary global challenges.
“The UN system requires serious reflection on the establishment of new Institutions of Global Governance (IGGs) to respond effectively to contemporary global challenges as well as to give effect to the notion of universal justice predicated on the practical realisation of all human rights and fundamental freedoms,” said Deputy Minister Landers.
He said the people of the world cannot be entirely free until the Palestinian people and the Saharawi people are free. “The legitimate struggles for self-determination and statehood for the people of Palestine and the Saharawi people must be at the centre of the mandate of this council until these objectives are fully attained.”
South Africa has long held the view that the key to peace in the Middle East is a sovereign Palestine state co-existing in peace with the state of Israel, based on the borders of June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Deputy Minister Landers also used his address to join the international community in expressing grave concern at the flagrant disregard for the sanctity of life and the preservation of human dignity, as evidenced by forced migration, with all the associated risks in loss of life, acts of xenophobia and the erosion of human dignity.
The Deputy Minister acknowledged South Africa continues to grapple with its own national ideals of the attainment of social cohesion, nation building, poverty eradication, inequality and unemployment.
He said government has put in place the National Development Plan (NDP): Vision 2030 to effectively mitigate these scourges.
Government, he said, also intends to promulgate, as a matter of urgency, legislation criminalising racism, punishing it by law and ensuring that the perpetrators of these scourges are brought to book. - SAnews.gov.za
