Justin Pearce
South Africa is lagging way behind its neighbours in committing itself to internationally recognised human rights agreements — and Amnesty International (AI) has urged the government to rectify the situation and make the promotion of human rights a cornerstone of its foreign policy.
“South Africa has a tremendous reputation and prestige in the world,” said AI international law expert Professor Menno Kamminga. “We would now like to see South Africa play its role in the world by promoting human rights.”
Of the 17 most crucial human rights treaties, South Africa has ratified or acceded to only two. South Africa has signed six further treaties, but in such cases the signature alone is not legally binding. While this situation is the result of South Africa’s former pariah status, Kamminga said the present government ought to move fast to redress the situation.
South Africa has acceded to the Geneva Conventions, which govern the treatment of prisoners of war, and recently ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The South African state has yet to commit itself to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention against Torture, among others.
South Africa and Swaziland are the only two Southern African countries that have not ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
As well as encouraging South Africa to join the world community in committing itself to the treaties, AI is lobbying support for a regional Human Rights Commission (HRC) for Southern Africa.
The idea of a regional HRC emerged from a meeting of Southern African Development Community (SADC) foreign ministers last year, and is on the agenda of the forthcoming SADC summit. AI is to launch a campaign to ensure that the proposal is not blocked by hostile forces at the summit.
Kamminga said the international treaties and the presence of the regional HRC would provide an “insurance policy” for South African citizens, since a constitutional bill of rights was in itself not a sufficient guarantee against human rights abuses.
“I was impressed with the constitutional discussions in South Africa, which made people think about things — but implementation is what counts. The Soviet Union, for example, had a beautiful constitution.
“If South Africa signed treaties, it would be bound by international law to the protection of human rights.”
Kamminga said regionally based human rights agreements such as the proposed Southern African HRC had proved particularly effective watchdogs. In Europe, for example, the majority of cases reported to the European Human Rights Commission had proved successful.
“Governments can’t afford not to comply,” Kamminga