In the wake of our report last week on South Africa’s close relationship with Indonesia, Simon Ratcliffe says there should be even greater concern over our relations with Sudan
Between October 1990 and September 1992 I lived and worked in Khartoum, Sudan, for the United Nations Development Programme. I was witness to acts of extreme repression against the civilian population in Sudan in areas affected by the civil war and in the urban areas. For a foreigner it is extremely difficult to gather accurate information in Sudan as one requires permits to travel out of the area of one’s posting. All towns and villages have check points on the roads entering them and on leaving them, where permits are checked. Foreigners are not permitted to carry cameras and could face deportation if caught with one.
As a South African who had been involved in the struggle against apartheid, I found Sudan infinitely more repressive than South Africa was even during the worst periods of the 1980s. Repression in Sudan is all- pervasive. It is present at every level of society and therefore fear is ever-present. The government is pursuing a fundamentalist Islamic project, according to its interpretation of Islam, which affects every aspect of people’s lives, from what they can wear to who they can relate to and what they can think and talk about. I was also struck by the lack of resistance and the lack of political consciousness among the victims. Perhaps this was due to the fact that all opposition groups are banned. When the present government took power in a military coup in 1989, one of its first acts was to ban all organisations. This included trade unions, political organisations, chess clubs — in short, any organisation that could pose even the vaguest of threats. Since then, organisations have formed but under the control of government supporters.
Human rights in Sudan count for nothing in the pursuance of the Islamic project by a regime that took power in a military coup and which does not in any way see itself as accountable.
South Africa currently has full diplomatic relations with Sudan. Sudan Airways runs a twice weekly flight from Johannesburg to London via Khartoum. Our trade with Sudan is predominantly through Transnet, which is supplying Sudan with railway equipment and locomotives.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs apparently has an internal unit which examines the human rights records of the countries with which South Africa has diplomatic relations. What are their findings on Indonesia and Sudan? What is their bottom line? How much influence do they have over foreign policy?
Having any form of relationship with Sudan is antithetical to everything this government stands for (in human rights terms). In addition, while in exile, the ANC demanded a moral stand from the international community against the apartheid government. It should apply similar principles in the application of South Africa’s foreign policy. It cannot demand moral conduct from other governments and not apply this itself. While acknowledging that foreign affairs often raises complex issues, which may, on occasion, blur human rights issues, it remains unclear as to what our foreign policy is and where human rights fits within it.
Nelson Mandela has made it clear that human rights will be the cornerstone of our foreign policy.
Therefore our government should:
* Adhere to the underlying doctrine of human rights as the basis for foreign policy, as has been spelt out in various policy documents;
* Suspend immediately all contacts (including airline flights between the two countries) with the Sudanese
* Make public the findings of the human rights unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in particular its finding on Sudan and Indonesia.
An international campaign is currently being run by Amnesty International to draw attention to human rights abuse in Sudan. Copies of Amnesty International reports can be obtained from Noel van Breda at (021) 73-6981.
Simon Ratcliffe is a development specialist and former co-ordinator of Planact
May
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