J de Lange: High-Level Segment of the Human Rights Council

12 March 2007

Mr President
The High Commissioner for Human Rights
Excellencies
Distinguished delegates
Ladies and gentlemen

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you, Mr President and members
of your Bureau, on your good stewardship of this council over the first eight
months of its existence. You have provided us with vision and excellent
leadership under very difficult and trying times.

We associate ourselves with the statement read earlier by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Philippines on behalf of the Convening Group of the
Community of Democracies.

Mr President, the first year of the existence of this newly established
Human Rights Council marks a defining moment for the international community.
The victims of human rights abuses in whose name we all claim to be speaking,
demand from us a global human rights system predicated on values of universal
justice and human solidarity. The noble principles enshrined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, that is "all human beings are born free and equal,
both in dignity and in rights," should underpin all the programmes and
operations of this council.

The former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, recently
correctly pointed out that "human rights are foreign to no culture and native
to all nations that they are thus universal, that one cannot pick and choose
among human rights whether civil, cultural, social, economic or political for a
fundamental feature of these rights is their universality, indivisibility,
interdependence and interrelatedness."

We fully associate our country with this view.

Mr President

Humanity cannot boast to be espousing the principles of human dignity and
equality when in reality the overwhelming majority of the world population
continue to live under conditions of poverty and underdevelopment. The 1993
World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna affirmed that extreme poverty
is a violation of human dignity, which undermines enjoyment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms.

The President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki, in his
address to the 61st session of the UN General Assembly on 19 September last
year, made the following critical remarks in this regard, "The majority of the
human race is entitled to ask the question whether the rich are responding the
way they do because the further impoverishment of the poor is to the advantage
of the rich, giving meaning to the old observation that the rich get richer as
the poor get poorer. As the divide between the rich and the poor widens and
becomes a serious global crisis we see an increase in the concentration of
economic, military, technological and media power. Something is wrong when many
Africans traverse, on foot, the harsh, hot and hostile Sahara Desert to reach
the European shores. Something is wrong when walls are built to prevent poor
neighbours from entering those countries where they seek better
opportunities."

"Something is indeed wrong when all these people, whom their fault is merely
the fact that their lives are defined by poverty, try desperately to reach
countries where they believe the conditions of their existence would improve
only to meet hostile and at times, most barbaric and inhuman receptions."

The current conditions of global poverty and underdevelopment impel us to
think no other way but to demand that the international human rights system has
to produce a new global normative standard or convention on the right to
development which must create space for people centred development, the
preservation of human dignity and ensuring that those living in conditions of
debilitating poverty do not unduly die of hunger and curable diseases.

The South African human rights policy is founded on four core principles of
respect for promotion, protection and more importantly, fulfilment of all
generations of human rights. South Africa believes that in order for this
council to rise to the challenge of its mandate namely, "to promote and protect
all the universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms including
contributing significantly to the elimination of their violations," it is
imperative that the council's agenda and programmes must address the following
critical issues as a matter of priority:

(i) the realisation and practical enjoyment of the economic, social and
cultural rights by all peoples everywhere
(ii) the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with particular
focus on sub-Saharan Africa
(iii) the development and adoption of a new normative instrument (a convention)
on the right to development
(iv) the development of an amendment protocol to the two core covenants
acknowledging the right to development as a fundamental human right and placing
it on par with all other human rights enumerated in these covenants
(v) the development of a set of new normative instruments correcting and
redressing the historical imbalances between the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights
(vi) the development of complementary standards to combat racism and racial
discrimination, particularly their newest manifestations i.e. incitement to
racial and religious hatred
(vii) ensuring the achievement of the right to self determination for nations
still living under foreign occupation and colonial domination
(viii) the constant re-evaluation of the international human rights regime with
a view to its improvement in a manner that will make it compatible with present
day challenges and which would also maximise remedies for victims.

Mr President, in the above context it is positive and encouraging to note
that the council adopted at its first session in June last year important
instruments, reinforcing the existing human rights instruments namely, the
declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples as well as the international
convention on enforced disappearances. Two other related developments in the
context of the General Assembly are commendable and welcomed as they are
complementary to the UN human rights system namely, the adoption by the General
Assembly (GA)of the convention on the rights and dignity of people with
disabilities as well as the report of the Secretary-General's Special
Representative on Violence against Children.

The adoption of the resolution convening the Durban Review Conference in
2009 marks another milestone achievement by the council. This achievement
should be applauded by all those committed to the elimination of the scourges
of racial discrimination in all its forms and the promotion of human dignity
and equality. It is hoped that the Durban Review Conference will close the dark
chapter in human history by "reversing all that is ugly and repulsive in our
world". We encourage the council to finalise all its institution building
processes within the next three months, as anticipated and instructed by the GA
Resolution 60/251 which created it. We owe it to the peoples of the world in
particular the victims of human rights violations to reassure them that this
new institution is a global beacon of hope for the advancement of their plight
and aspirations. The renewed political will and commitment which is meant to be
the foundation for the new council must guide us to avoid the failures of the
past.

Mr President, the defining feature of the council's functional programmes or
operations should be the inherent desire on the part of all its members to
assist States to improve their internal human rights situations. This
co-operative approach should be able to engender the support of everyone,
including those States in need of assistance.

Our collective experience has taught us that confrontations only breed other
forms of confrontation and non-co-operation. It has also taught us that while
confrontations continue, the plight of those whose dignity and freedoms are
denied does not improve in any meaningful way. At worst, the miseries and
desperation of the victims only compound. The challenge for us, therefore, is
to set aside narrow self interest for the greater good of the observance of
human rights by establishing a credible and effective Human Rights Council,
based on goodwill, political commitment, international cooperation,
constructive dialogue, transparency and accountability in which civil
liberties, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all can be realised and
practically enjoyed.

Mr President, this year will mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of
the transatlantic slave trade. We call on the UN and in particular the High
Commissioner for Human Rights to co-ordinate with other global social partners
to ensure the proper celebration of this important occasion.

We applaud the UN General Assembly for designating 26 March, as the
International Day for the Commemoration of the Abolition of the Transatlantic
Slave Trade. Five days before this historic event, South Africa and the
international community will have commemorated another important historic event
i.e. South Africa's Human Rights Day and the International Day for the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination respectively. Annually, South Africa and
the UN celebrate 21 March in honour of the memory of the heroes and heroines of
our struggle who perished on this day in 1960 at the hands of the apartheid
regime. This tragedy has come to be known as the Sharpeville massacre. Mr
President, 13 years into our democracy we have made discernable progress in our
national delivery system particularly in the areas of economic, social and
cultural rights. We have provided and expanded basic infrastructure, increased
access to primary healthcare and made advances in realising the right to
education, ensuring food security, access to housing, electricity, water and
sanitation. While others downplay the importance of social spending on these
activities of social transformation we for our part place priority on them, as
they are indeed human rights issues. Despite progress in these areas, we are
the first to admit that there is still a lot that needs to be done to restore
the dignity of all our people and to accelerating delivery of basic
services.

For us civil and political rights are inextricably linked to the enjoyment
of economic, social and cultural rights. The two international covenants which
regulate these two regimes are treated with equal emphasis in our country. Two
weeks ago, we hosted a very successful human rights seminar between the
governments of South Africa and Argentina. This partnership, which was the
first of its kind, drew its participants from civil society, academia and
government.

The seminar focused on key thematic human rights issues of common interest
between the two nations namely restorative justice, truth and reconciliation,
memory of the victims of disappearances and combating racial discrimination
within the context of the follow-up to the World Conference Against Racism.
Later this year, we will host three important events focusing exclusively on
the advancement of women particularly addressing the plight of rural women,
gender equality and advancing gender justice in conflict affected
countries.

We are also in the process of domesticating the Convention against Torture
or other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Mr President,
South Africa's political vision is predicated on the reality that our fortunes
are inextricably linked to those of our continent. We have within our limited
financial and personnel constraints, done our best to contribute to the
political stability, promotion of democracy, the rule of law and general
conditions of good governance on our continent. These efforts were undertaken
in accordance with the wishes of the countries concerned. We have also
continued, within the context of the African Union (AU), with Africa's efforts
towards making this century the African century by taking ownership of the
continent's macro-economic recovery programmes. We invite development partners
to join Africans in the realisation of this dream. We welcome the
institutionalisation of the relationship between the UN system and regional
bodies such as the AU and in this regard we encourage the continued dialogue
between the Human Rights Council and the African Commission on Human and
People's Rights. We also welcome the broader co-operation and collaboration
between the AU Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council. The role
of the international community in our own struggle for freedom has been
crucial. We urge the international community to demonstrate the same commitment
previously shown towards South Africa, in our collective efforts to attain
self-determination for both Palestine and Western Sahara. To this end South
Africa welcomes the recent contacts between the Israeli and Palestinian
leadership aimed at establishing dialogue between the two sides. We encourage
both parties to find creative solutions to the Middle East crisis with the
ultimate aim of affecting a two-state solution as envisaged in the road
map.

Mr President, in conclusion our national priority is to intensify our social
development programmes to constantly improve the quality of life of all South
Africans, to close the unacceptable gap which defines our dual economy along
racial lines and to combat transactional organised crime and reduce the levels
of substance abuse. Our ultimate ideal is to create economic and political
space for a South Africa, which finds strength and growth in its wide-ranging
diversity is democratic, non-racial and non-sexist and where all of our
citizens can enjoy in the prosperity of our country.

This is the national identity we are striving to achieve. We do not only
seek this ideal for our selves, but for our continent and indeed for the rest
of the world. Our vision is for the attainment of a new human rights world
order that is based on maximising the dignity and humanity of each person and
is free of racism and sexism and which is people centred and based on
inclusivity and human solidarity.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
12 March 2007
Source: Department of Foreign Affairs (http://www.dfa.gov.za/)