Chairperson, members of the portfolio committee, ambassadors and high commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, our foreign policy decisions are guided by our principles, foremost among which is the desire for a more just, humane and equitable world. It is in the conduct of our international relations that we attach the utmost importance to the promotion of human rights, democracy, justice and international law - despite what the DA may think. Inspired by our history and ethos, we believe that it is both in our national interest and our moral duty to champion human rights struggles around the world. We remain convinced that our goal should not merely be to condemn human rights violations but to do something concrete to address them. We take pride in following a uniform and principled approach to human rights and conflict resolution that respects the universality of the rights of the victim.
It is more than a year since the first stirrings in Tunisia ushered in the much berated "Arab awakening", spilling over into Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and further afield. These popular uprisings have fundamentally changed the whole Arab order, giving renewed hope and energy to the people of the region and beyond for liberty, democracy and a better life. South Africa welcomes the positive changes that have been taking place in the Middle East and North Africa, Mena, region. We have availed ourselves to post-uprising states to share our experience of successful political transition as they lay their foundation for their new systems of government.
We commend the good progress being made in the unfolding democratic transition in Tunisia. We have noted with great satisfaction the election of a national constituent assembly in October 2011, including the far- sighted decision to establish a coalition government consisting of three major political parties. South Africa is closely following developments in the transitional process in Egypt. Our country continues to interact with the role-players to identify possible areas of co-operation in the drafting of the new constitution. We welcome the decision by Egypt to give renewed priority to Africa in its foreign relations and remain committed to the deepening of our bilateral relations.
Since 1994, South Africa has chosen to defend those whose rights have been trampled upon, including the right to self-determination. We remain deeply concerned about the state of affairs in Western Sahara, the only outstanding decolonisation issue on the agenda of the African Union. We continue to reiterate the need for a UN resolution to be implemented and the right of self-determination of Western Sahara to be respected in terms of international law. South Africa firmly believes there can be no lasting solution if the international community stands idle while the people of Western Sahara continue to suffer. We continue to emphasise that the United Nations Security Council should add a human rights monitoring component to the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, Minurso, a glaring anomaly which creates the impression that some powers do not give priority to the human rights of the people of Western Sahara.
The Arab Spring has demonstrated clearly that people cannot in the end be denied their legitimate rights; that their aspirations cannot be reduced to a security problem to be managed. After six decades of war and agony, Palestinians must be given their due. South Africa remains disappointed that no progress has been made in the latest round of talks, under the auspices of Jordan, because of the Israeli failure to submit proposals on border security, as required by the quartet. Instead, the Israeli government continues its acts of aggression, such as home demolitions, restricting the access and movement of the Palestinian people, the continued siege of Gaza and, above all, the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem.
We call on Israel to end its apartheid policy of repression and accept the hand of peace that has been extended by the Palestinians and the Arab world. An independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, would be an enormous boon to Israel, leading to its full acceptance in the region and providing by far the best assurance of its long-term security and prosperity.
South Africa remains deeply concerned by the situation in Syria. We welcome the news that the advance team of observers has been able to visit key spots, including Homs, and that they have observed a marked decrease in violence - although I know that there have been reports of a spike in the violence yesterday. The deployment of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria will be important to ensure that the six-point proposal of the Joint Special Envoy, Kofi Annan, is implemented, and will likewise play a crucial role towards realising the goal of promoting an all-inclusive process of peaceful dialogue leading to a political outcome that responds to the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. It is extremely important that all members of the international community give the Annan plan a chance to succeed and uphold and respect the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
We have urged the Sri Lankan government to grasp the opportunity to finally settle the conflict in Sri Lanka, including through the speedy implementation of the Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report, as well as through the setting up of an impartial, inclusive and transparent mechanism to hold those responsible for human rights violations to account. We stand ready to assist and share with the government and people of Sri Lanka our experiences on reconciliation and nation-building.
South Africa has re-established full bilateral relations with the new governing authority in Libya. We wish to see the new authorities make a success of establishing a successful democratic postconflict state. To this end we have begun a process of assisting Libya in constitution-making, national reconciliation, the integration of the various brigades into a national defence force and economic development.
War and violence severely undermine human rights, ripping apart lives and livelihoods. An important contribution that South Africa has made to the protection of human rights is our investment in peace mediation efforts in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Cte d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Libya, Madagascar and elsewhere. We believe strongly that the key to the lasting solution of conflicts is the inclusive processes of dialogue and reconciliation that address the underlying causes of disputes and reconstruct viable polities. Military intervention and regime-change solutions are almost always counterproductive, exacerbating conflict and prolonging the killing.
We are pleased that our approach has been validated in Yemen, where mounting domestic and international pressure finally ended the 33-year rule of President Saleh and led to the formation of an inclusive government under former Vice President Hadi. We are convinced that the patient mediation effort that the international community employed in Yemen is the model for solving other crises in the region - not the aggressive intervention that we witnessed in Libya.
We have taken note of the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq at the end of 2011, but remain concerned at the ongoing terror attacks that continue to kill or injure a significant number of innocent Iraqi civilians.