International community ‘cannot be found isolating one party or bringing it to its knees’: Naledi Pandor

08 April 2022 - 13:49
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Minister of international relations and co-operation Naledi Pandor says SA has continued to stress that dialogue, mediation and diplomacy is the only path to end the conflict in Ukraine. File image.
Minister of international relations and co-operation Naledi Pandor says SA has continued to stress that dialogue, mediation and diplomacy is the only path to end the conflict in Ukraine. File image.
Image: Sydney Seshibedi

International relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor has defended SA’s decision to abstain from a UN General Assembly vote that sought to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 

The decision not to vote had not been an indication of SA’s indifference to the ongoing situation, but the resolution would not bring about peace, she told members of the media on Friday. 

“We are deeply concerned about the continuing conflict, the loss of lives and the deteriorating humanitarian situation,” she said.

“As a matter of urgency there must be a cessation of hostilities, which would be the first step in a comprehensive response to the humanitarian crisis. We continue to stress that dialogue, mediation and diplomacy is the only path to end the conflict.”  

Global power relations are being realigned in response to the war, and there is volatility in the global economy. These have had a direct impact on SA and the developing world
International relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor

Pandor said SA called on the international community to focus on finding a sustainable solution.

“It will not be found in isolating one party or bringing it to its knees. We do not want to go down the route following the Treaty of Versailles.”

The abstinence of SA in Thursday’s vote was the third in just over a month. The resolution received a two-thirds majority in the 193-member General Assembly with 93 countries voting in favour, 24 against and 58 abstaining.

Pandor attributed SA’s voting patterns to “tectonic shifts” in global affairs since the Russian Federation used force without sanction by the UN Security Council in Ukraine in February.

“The use of UN General Assembly votes rather than Security Council is further evidence of these shifts. Global power relations are being realigned in response to the war, and there is volatility in the global economy. These have had a direct impact on SA and the developing world,” she said.  

The minister said the decision to abstain from the votes had also been a way to assert the country’s independent and non-aligned views on the conflict.

“We have resisted becoming embroiled in the politics of confrontation and aggression that has been advocated by the powerful countries. Instead, we have promoted peaceful resolution through dialogue and negotiation.”

There was nothing untoward with SA’s abstinence as it had always opposed violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states, in keeping with the UN Charter, the minister said. 

“We have also decried the humanitarian disaster that has resulted from the ongoing military operations and called for the urgent opening of humanitarian corridors and the provision of aid to the civilian population which, as usual, bears the brunt of the suffering when violent confrontation breaks out.”

There had been concern about what Pandor described as a “lack of balanced evidence” in the UN. She called for consistency in the approach used by the international community to countries that violate international law.  

“When Israel launched sustained offensive military operations against the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds, flattening homes, burying civilians under the rubble and devastating the already dilapidated infrastructure in such a small and densely populated area, the world failed to respond in the same way as it has on Ukraine.

“Military aggression is not met with sanctions, isolation and a divestment campaign. We have been strenuously pointing out that current approaches strain relations further.”

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