Civil society groups task African Commission on xenophobic attacks

A coalition of civil society organisations has lamented the xenophobic attacks in South Africa and urged the African Commission to ask the South African government to quickly end the unjust killings and bring the perpetrators to book.

Meanwhile, to prevent reprisal attacks, South African citizens in Abuja have signed a peace pact with Nigerians at a ceremony witnessed by citizens of other African countries.

In a letter submitted to the African Csommission on behalf of the coalition by the Executive Director, Southern Africa Litigation Centre, Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, the civil society groups said: “We write to you as concerned organisations and citizens of the African continent to raise concern about the xenophobic attacks currently occurring, mainly against African foreign nationals, in the Republic of South Africa. We come to you, as the body responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights on the African continent, requesting you to call upon the South African government to take concrete steps to end these attacks, prosecute perpetrators and protect foreign nationals living in their territory from violations of their human rights, including the right to life.

“As civil society organisations based in and working on human rights issues on the African continent, we are particularly concerned about the loss of lives, injuries to persons, and damage to private property and the dignity of foreign nationals living in South Africa, which are a grave violation of their rights protected under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter). The right to life, not to be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and the right to strict equality before the law are non-derogable rights – not dependent on a person’s status in a country.  The status of foreign nationals who are victims of the attacks in South Africa is therefore irrelevant.

“We note statements of several governments, including the South African government, to provide assistance for individuals leaving the country. While those who wish to leave should be assisted to do so, the solution to the violence should not be to repatriate all foreign nationals, but to ensure an environment in the country in which their rights are protected. Furthermore, the acts of those carrying out attacks against foreign nationals should not be rewarded by assisting them to achieve their objective of ridding South Africa of foreign nationals. In this regard, we remind all States of the provisions of Article 12 of the African Charter which prohibits the mass expulsion of foreign nationals, including mass expulsion aimed at national groups.”

The organisations expressed concerned over comments allegedly made by persons in positions of authority and influence which may amount to incitement to violence and the role that these play in perpetuating xenophobia. “While some statements have been made to condemn the violence, we are concerned that not enough concrete steps are being taken to prevent such attacks, prosecute perpetrators, protect foreign nationals and prevent the mass coerced exodus of foreign nationals from the country.

They requested the African Commission to ask the government of South Africa to, among others:

• Protect foreign nationals from further attacks, including by increasing police presence in high-risk areas and immediately implementing conflict resolution initiatives in these areas involving the Department of Home Affairs;

• Provide urgent humanitarian assistance to internally displaced foreign nationals in the country, including counselling for trauma;

• Bring perpetrators of violence against foreign nationals to justice. To facilitate such prosecutions, the Department of Justice should set up special courts, as was done during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, to deal with all cases of violence against foreign nationals in a bid to ease the burden on the courts. Information on accessing these courts should be widely disseminated;

• Investigate and bring to justice the instigators behind the perpetration of the violence;

• Condemn unequivocally comments by persons in positions of authority and influence which may amount to incitement to violence; and

• Effectively engage the broadest possible South African public, in order to curb and eradicate xenophobia and xenophobic violence. These messages should be repeated, constantly re-iterated and not only heard after crises moments. They should be accessible, in local languages, should be expressed directly to communities, and should involve local leaders.

The signing of the peace accord in Abuja yesterday, which was initiated by the Nigerians in Diaspora Integration Agency, took place at the South African High Commission in the presence of the country’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Louis Mnguni.

President General of the Diaspora Integration Agency, Dr. Caro Nwosu, sent a letter to the South African President, Jacob Zuma, through the High Commissioner, demanding that the populace, and the youths especially, be sensitized on the role played by Nigeria and other African countries in liberating South Africa from apartheid.

While commending Zuma for rising to stop the violence, Nwosu said that the decision to sign the peace agreement was to ensure that such xenophobic violence does not happen again.

“We rise up here today to make case for all Nigerians caught up in the current crises in South Africa,” she said, suggesting mass re-orientation, deliberate government renunciation of hate speeches by political and traditional leaders, and control of social media at crisis periods, as some of the actions that should be taken to end the crisis.

“Our governments right now need to engage in a lot of friendly consultations. Let both leaders visit each other and make categorical statements that will douse the tension,” she said.

Responding, the high commissioner said that the signing of the Nigerian-South African Citizens Peace Accord was to “address issues which threaten our humanity as Africans.” He praised the Diaspora agency for initiating the peace process, adding that they have demonstrated that Nelson Mandela lives on.

“We are humbled by the efforts of South Africa and Nigeria to stem the tide of violence. We will always be grateful for the sacrifices of Nigeria and other African countries during the apartheid period. We cannot take that for granted. Our collective efforts in the last two weeks demonstrate our long standing belief that by working together, peace is certain.

“Thousands of South Africans have protested against the violence, which was perpetrated by minorities. They said it would never happen again. We will work together to ensure there is no more violence. We reiterate the condemnation of the violence. We stand for the unity and peaceful co-existence of Africans and other people of the world,” he stated.

According to him, over seven persons have been arrested in connection with the violence and would be prosecuted.

One of the participants, Gandhi Baai, a South African who represented Winnie Mandela, stated that in 1955, South Africa made a declaration that the country belongs to all those that live in it. According to her, this is the message from Winnie.