Adhere to international human rights laws while combating terrorism, Gungubele tells UN forum

Minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele on Wednesday has told world leaders SA remains committed to addressing the threat of terrorism in a holistic manner.

“We will continue to remain supportive of counter-terrorism initiatives that focus on prevention measures, on addressing conditions that give rise to terrorism and on promoting dialogue, tolerance, diversity and understanding among peoples, cultures and religions,” said Gungubele.

The minister was speaking at the 12th ministerial plenary of the global counter-terrorism at the 77th session of the UN General Council in New York City on Wednesday.

“We must also stress that as we counter the threat of terrorism, the importance of adherence to international obligations and commitments, in particular human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law, remains key,” he said.

The first in-person meeting of the forum in three years is taking place on September 20-26.

Gungubele said the forum was still committed to the aspiration of “reducing the vulnerability of people everywhere to terrorism”.

“We recognise the important role played by the forum as an informal, apolitical, multilateral platform to bring together technical expertise and practical resources to help us effectively prevent, combat and prosecute terrorist acts on an ongoing basis.”

Gungubele said SA continued to derive significant knowledge from the various activities, initiatives and practical guidance documents facilitated by the forum.

“For SA, this is critical as terrorist groups continue to pose a threat to our continent, impeding our continent’s progress towards achieving continental unity and integration, as well as sustained economic growth. The Southern African region has not been spared from this threat.”

SA noted and supported the forum’s strengthening relationship with the UN and the global counter-terrorism co-ordination compact.

“This reinforces the relevance of the forum, in particular in the context of providing practical guidelines to assist member states in implementing the UN global counter-terrorism strategy and the relevant security council resolutions.”

He added SA subscribed to multilateralism as the best platform to safeguard the gains of humanity and to articulate joint aspirations in advancing our collective development and safety.

“Recent efforts to vigorously incorporate human rights in the framing of counter-terrorism measures align with SA’s founding principles and represent a step in the right direction in ensuring that governments do not lose credibility while in the quest of safeguarding their nations and people.”

It therefore remained important that members view all four pillars of the UN global counter-terrorism strategy as carrying equal importance and implement them in a balanced matter.

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