All those people still patting the South African government on the back for their enlightened and progressive approach in passing the Civil Union Bill (gay marriage) please also note that our first major play from our new non-permanent seat at the UN security council was to team up with China and Russia (both with great human rights records!?!) in voting against a security council resolution that condemns Myanmar for it’s continued human rights abuses.
If South Africa wants to be seen as a champion of human rights then at some point they will have to actually champion human rights.
Check out the M&G article here where Douglas Gibson is also quoted as follows:
South Africa’s first significant vote since taking up its non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council raises a question — will South Africa ever meet a dictator it does not like?
In January 2006, United States submitted a draft Security Council resolution, backed by Great Britain, in an effort to end political repression and human rights violations to United Nation Security Council. Belgium, France, Ghana, Italy, Panama, Peru, Slovakia, the UK and the US voted in favor of the resolution, while China and Russia vetoed, and South Africa voted against the resolution.
According to several organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the regime has a poor human rights record. There is no independent judiciary in Myanmar and political opposition to the military government is not tolerated. Internet access is highly restricted through software-based filtering that limits the material citizens can access on-line, including most political opposition, pro-democracy web pages, and pornography. Forced labour, human trafficking, and child labour are common.
No comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link
http://wozafriday.com/2007/01/16/i-thought-we-were-progressive/trackback/