Rights Group CHURAC Writes South Africa’s President, Demands End to Xenophobic Attacks On Foreign Nationals, Africans

• Threatens To Invoke Doctrine Of State Responsibility Against South Africa

By Joseph Bienbo, Warri

Prominent civil society group, the Centre For Human Rights And Anti-corruption Crusade (CHURAC) has strongly condemned the xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals by South African Citizens, stating that the unwarranted attacks may create negativity image about the South Africa country.

This was contained in a statement signed and forwarded to newsmen in Warri on Sunday by the group’s Chairman Board of Trustees Alaowei Cleric Ebikonbowei, Esq, demanding that international human rights in laws be invoked against the country’s leadership.

The statement copied the Chairperson, Hon. Idrissa Sow,
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR),
31, Bijilo Annex Layout,
Kombo North District, Western Region, P. O. Box 673, Banjul,
Gambia, urging him to act immediately to stop continuing attacks on foreigners in the country.

The statement addressed the country’s president His Excellency,
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, Mahlamba Ndlopfu, Bryntirion, Pretoria said, “the stories coming daily from your Country about the near-state sponsored xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals especially citizens of African origin is not palatable. It appears to us and indeed, the entire African continent that the Republic of South Africa is no longer a friendly nation to accommodate foreigner emigrants”

It further read, “against the spirit of our African brotherliness as encapsulated in the relevant international treaties under the United Nations and the African Union which your Country is a signatory to, citizens of South Africa have entered into the streets of the various cities in the Country to perpetrate violence against foreign nationals lawfully living in your Country. Many of the cities in the Country have become a killing field where foreigners from African nations have been killed and their properties either destroyed or looted under the gleeful eyes of security agencies in the Country, an incident that has been going unabated since 2008”.

“Cities like Johannesburg, Pretoria, Alexandra, etc in the Guateng Province have become the centres of these broad day light maiming and harassment of foreigners in the Country. You’re quite aware that citizens from African nations such as Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nigeria among others do legitimately go to your Country to carry on lawful businesses. These same people and their business interests are now the targets of miscreants and hooligans in South Africa to attack”.

“It is regrettable that, in spite of the near diplomatic collapse between South Africa and other African nations affected by the carnage, the Government under your authority has not arrested and or prosecuted any of the culprits. The graveyard silence and pro-xenophobic comments coming from some top government functionaries under your stewardship is given Africans reasons to believe that South Africans did not care about what happened to foreigners in their Country”

“We are reliably gathered that over 60 foreign nationals so far have been killed by the ongoing sporadic mob attacks. The attackers have also committed arson against the business premises of these beleaguered victims of war. Night fall is no longer in Soweto but in the entire Country against foreign nationals. Just as the laws of your nation empowered you to protect lives and property in that Country, international treaties your country is a signatory to also empowered you to protect all human race in the Country. Foreigners now sleep with only the eyes closed”.

“The continuous attack on other Africans in South Africa is a gross violation of the Fundamental Human Right of those living in the Country. The right to life and other human rights are the fulcrum of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations in 1948, which nearly, if not all countries of the world are signatory to, including South Africa. Article 1 of the UDHR provides thus: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

“Also, Article 2 of the Charter further states that: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty”.

“We do not know whether South Africa does not understand the import of the above provisions of the UN Charter. Again, on the Human Rights issue, we have the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) which is more at home than the UNDR South Africa is constantly running fowl of. Thank God your Country is a signatory to the Banjul Charter. Article 4 of the ACHPR is to the effect that Human beings are inviolable and that there must be Dignity & respect for the life and integrity of a person. Article 12 of the same ACHPR provides that “Every individual shall have the right to leave any country including his own and return to his country…”

“Your Excellency Sir, your Country has clearly been in breach of these core provisions of the Banjul Charter by failing to protect the rights of Africans living in the Country. Another core issue which the South African Government has breached due to its cynical disposition to the xenophobic attacks on foreigners is the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT)”

Article 1 of the Convention provides thus: “For the purposes of this Convention, the term “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”

“Similarly, Article 2(1) further states that: “Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.”

“Gleaned from the above international treaties, we felt that your Government appears not doing enough to stem the tide of the sporadic violence against foreign nationals, other than the continuous press statements either accepting or outrightly denying the reality of the attacks against African immigrants to the Country. South Africa has clearly not done enough to comply with Article 1 of the UNCAT, a treaty which She is a signatory to. The story of Nigerians and other citizens of African nations burnt alive remain a huge scare and a clear violation of the Convention against torture. Article 2(2) and (3) of UNCAT and Articles 4 and 5 of the UDHR strongly prohibit torture and inhuman treatments of every human being on planet earth”.

“Xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other African nations have become rampant and it is certainly no more news that Africans in South Africa currently live with their eyes wide open even in the middle of the Night because no one knows who would be the next victim of circumstance. There have been lots of clamour in many quarters from some of the affected African nations that are calling for reprisal attacks. Such will not be healthy to the peaceful co-exsistence among African nations”.

“The attitudes of South Africans are posing a serious threat to peace not only to the African continent but the entire world. We therefore use this medium to call on you to take urgent steps for the protection of all the citizens in your Country including the foreigners. If however, the trend (xenophobic attacks) still continues occasioned by your apparent lukewarmness then we will have no other option than to invoke the doctrine of “State Responsibility” under the International Law Commission to enforce the rights of the bastardized Africans”.

“The danger of your reticence means that Nigerians and indeed other affected African nations would one day be pushed to the wall and start to react against South African investments in their countries where the latter have been enjoying a relatively favorable business climate. The effect of all of these is that there is a likelihood of war between these countries and your country who have been relatively peaceful even in the face of diplomatic miasma”.