President Zuma is in New York today to co-chair a high-level panel on global sustainability.

In addition, South Africa is this month chairing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

In a statement released yesterday, President Zuma said that South Africa will “certainly take advantage of these important occasions to advance our international relations policy objectives... with a view to promoting democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights”.

It is time for the President, and South Africa’s representatives at the UN, to start actively demonstrating this professed commitment to human rights by using our current leadership role at the UN to champion human rights issues.

As a first step, South Africa should speak out against the election of Syria to two United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) committees, both of which are concerned with human rights.

UN Human Rights Council investigations have found that more than 5000 citizens have been killed by Syrian authorities in the suppression of protests demanding greater civil liberties that started in March 2011.

Yesterday, President Bashar al-Assad again vowed to strike with an “iron fist” against his opponents.

It makes no sense at all that this regime’s brutality is being rewarded with positions on UN structures concerned with human rights.

South Africa failed to support UN action in Syria when it came before the Security Council in August 2011. We also did not actively support the appeal of an international coalition asking for Syria’s election to the UNESCO committees to be reversed.

We now have the opportunity to use our position as chair of the UNSC to:
Ensure that the possibility of intervention in Syria stays on the Council’s agenda;
Support the recommendation of the UN Human Rights Council that Syria should be referred to the International Criminal Court; and
Apply pressure to reverse Syria’s election to UN human rights bodies.

Zuma and our UN representatives must put clear blue water between the questionable positions South Africa has taken on human rights issues at the UN in the past, and use their influence to push for decisive action to be taken against oppressive regimes.