A South African government proposal that succeeded in blocking an examination of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) has drawn strong criticism both at home and abroad.
Zimbabwe escaped international scrutiny on Wednesday after 28 mainly African and Asian countries in the 53-member UNHRC supported a South African ”no action” motion on a European Union resolution calling for debate on the issue.
The draft resolution had expressed deep concern over continuing abuse by the Zimbabwean government, including assaults, torture, cases of rape, arbitrary arrests and attempts to clamp down on the country’s judiciary.
On Thursday, the Democratic Alliance said it was ”deeply disturbed and shocked” to learn South Africa had led such a proposal.
”Why… would the South African government propose that the UNHRC not take a firmer stand on Zimbabwe? It boggles the mind,” veteran DA MP and party foreign affairs representative Colin Eglin said in a statement.
The DA has repeatedly called on the government to intervene in the Zimbabwean crisis.
”The breakdown in law and order, the botched land reform programme and the disregard shown for human rights in Zimbabwe will not only have a destructive impact on that country, it will also drag down the entire Southern African region.
”The Mugabe regime is a test of the South African government’s resolve to protect the best interests of this country and the entire region; sadly, we are failing this test,” Eglin said.
Meanwhile, European Parliament MP Michael Gahler, a member of the parliament’s largest political group, said the South African government had turned its back on Zimbabwe’s people, who were suffering under a ”despotic leader”.
”The more the situation in Zimbabwe deteriorates, the more the Mugabe regime apparently can count on the unconditional support from the ‘old boys network’ existing between the ANC and Zanu-PF,” he said in a statement.
Gahler was head of the European Parliament’s observer delegation to the 2000 parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe. He said the South African government’s silent diplomacy towards Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe had obviously failed, ”but open support of an oppressive regime prevails”.
He said a former liberation movement such as the African National Congress risked being labelled racist ”if it legitimately fights a white minority regime, but later turns its back to the suffering people under a black despotic ruler”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs was not immediately for comment on Thursday. – Sapa