Johannesburg, Feb 1 (PTI) The global community needs to revisit the Geneva Convention clauses on genocide so that the UN can act decisively against states perpetrating this act, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor has said.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Pandor said that what confronts the world is to marshal the ability to ensure that the stipulations of the Genocide (Convention) are strictly observed.
“The UN should actually be forced, cajoled or persuaded to focus on enforcement and not only on monitoring, as it has done for so many decades,” she said.
The comments from Pandor came days after the International Court of Justice –the top UN court– last week stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in Gaza but demanded that Israel try to contain death and damage in its military offensive. South Africa, which brought the case, had asked for the court to order Israel to halt its military operations against Hamas militants.
“The genocide convention was enacted following World War II and its intention was to ensure that never again would we see the atrocities that were part of the Holocaust against Jewish people in Europe. Those who were to be the beneficiaries of the Convention are today the ones we believe are committing genocide,” Pandor said.
“What confronts the world is to marshal the ability to ensure that the stipulations of the Genocide (Convention) are strictly observed. This question is not one for South Africa. I believe South Africa has done what it can and now the global community is the one that must answer the question: ‘Do these conventions mean anything or do we now have a world in which there is open licence where you can act as you will against any vulnerable group?’,” she added.
The top UN Court court decided not to throw out genocide charges against Israel for its military offensive in Gaza, as part of a preliminary decision in the case.
The minister said this would link to the efforts of many countries in the South to bring about change at the UN.
“I believe it fits very much into the discussion of UN reform that we have been trying for so many years to have as a concrete deliberation as a set of proposed changes. We have not been able to have text-based negotiations on a proposed framework. I think now is the time for us to push for this,” she said.
Pandor said she believed that one of the things that needed to be included at the UN Security Council for debate was the need for peace enforcement.
The minister said South Africa would continue talking to countries that supported South Africa’s efforts to stop the genocide in Palestine.
“Countries like Ireland and structures within the US we need to engage with and begin to form a force that would advocate action, particularly an action toward a negotiated two-state solution. I don’t think we should leave matters as they are – we really need to be very active as South Africa,” Pandor said.
Confirming that the ICJ ruling on Israel’s actions in Gaza was “not the victory that South Africa was looking for”, although it was an “Important and decisive” one, Pandor said she had spoken to Palestinian representatives about the need to continue action across the globe.
“The major work that we need to do is to protect the people of Palestine, but most particularly that we have the eventuality of a state of Palestine, where people enjoy freedom, justice and human rights. This is the task that we must undertake.
“We must not forget that Israel is an occupying power, with a duty to protect those that it has occupied, so this genocide totally contradicts the role and obligations of an occupier,” the minister said.
Commenting on the decision by a number of countries to suspend humanitarian aid to Palestine through the UN Relief and Works Agency in Palestine (UNWRA), Pandor said South Africa should try to secure humanitarian support to assist the relief agency.
The US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan and Finland suspended funding to UNWRA, which millions of Palestinians depend on, after allegations that some of the agency’s staff were involved with Hamas.
“We should be speaking to the Gulf States, we should speak to the other African countries that have the ability to contribute. We should look to our own resources; we should support the agency to provide humanitarian aid. We can’t leave things as they are and whatever we are able to provide, we should make it available,” said the minister.
“I think there should be a massive drive to say to those powerful countries that have stopped funding even though those accused workers have been suspended and investigations are underway, again you have collective punishment. We need to object to that, but we also should look at working with the world to secure funding from the south to assist this entity,” Pandor added.
Pandor’s reference to the Geneva Conventions is a series of international treaties concluded in Geneva between 1864 and 1949 to ameliorate the effects of war on soldiers and civilians. PTI FH RUP RUP
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