(Parliamentary debate: South Africa’s international relations policy concerning self-determination as well as atrocities committed against minority groups worldwide, such as the Uyghurs)
It seems quite far-fetched to think that atrocities and minority rights violations are a part of our modern society. And yet that is the harsh and documented reality.
There are still states committing systemic human rights abuses and denying minority groups their right to self-determination.
An example is the Uyghurs, a minority group in China, whose delegates visited South Africa this week to raise awareness of their terrible fate. Thanks to the FF Plus’s mediation, their case was heard in a parliamentary debate today.
It was encouraging that most parties agreed during the debate that a group’s right to self-determination is fundamental.
The FF Plus and other parties called on government to apply its international policy consistently by recognising all peoples’ right to self-determination.
Government was requested to use its position in Brics to encourage China to take steps to put a stop to the human rights abuses and uphold the Uyghurs’ right to self-determination.
The Uyghurs’ circumstances speak of:
A government forcing an ethnic group to sacrifice their language. The oppression of religion, culture and beliefs. Detention without reason or rights. Political indoctrination camps and torture. Restrictive legislation on practising religion. Forced labour. Forced sterilisation. A ban on freedom of movement, expression, opinion and political association. Ethnic cleansing and even genocide.
States guilty of such abuses can justifiably be called the thugs of the world. And countries that turn a blind eye are just as guilty, in fact, they are accomplices.
When the apparent indifference is the result of trade relations and economic profits, the accountability is even greater. South Africa’s servitude to China is no secret.
The complaint lodged by South Africa with the International Court of Justice against Israel regarding Palestinians’ fate creates the impression that the government is an advocate for human rights. Therefore, it is important that the country’s international policy, founded on the core values of the Constitution, is consistently applied even if it means criticising a friend.
The terrible fate of the Uyghurs who settled in East Turkestan, a region in the northwestern part of China, is no secret.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations (UN) has already published its assessment of the Uyghurs’ situation, confirming the atrocities.
The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also adopted an urgent resolution on the matter.
Signatories to the UN’s Genocide Convention – such as South Africa – have a moral and legal obligation to help put a stop to China’s offences against the Uyghurs.
