South Africa/China: Put human rights at the forefront of BRICS Leaders’ Summit

BRICS nations must put human rights at the forefront of their discussions, said Amnesty International South Africa ahead of the BRICS Leaders’ Summit in Beijing starting this week.

President Cyril Ramaphosa in his weekly newsletter on Monday said the summit was “our opportunity to contribute to a better world, in which all countries have a better chance to recover from this pandemic and to flourish”.

However, all the BRICS countries face serious human rights crises, most notably, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“President Ramaphosa cannot say BRICS wants to contribute to a better world, when South Africa is silent on human rights atrocities being perpetrated by its members. The Russian government is not only violating international humanitarian and human rights law in its war of  aggression against Ukraine, but its crackdown on people in Russia who are speaking out about the invasion goes against the rights to freedom of expression and assembly which South Africa and its Constitution prides itself on,” Amnesty International South Africa Executive Director Shenilla Mohamed said.

Meanwhile the Chinese government is also committing grave human rights violations, especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Amnesty International has documented systematic arbitrary detention, torture and persecution of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities.

Under China’s systematic repression in Xinjiang, ordinary people can be locked away for years and subjected to cruel conditions for entirely lawful activities.

There is also a crackdown against those in India, who dare to speak up and peacefully express their dissent against the discrimination they face.

Cracking down on protesters with excessive use of force, arbitrary detention and punitive house demolitions by Indian authorities is in complete violation of India’s commitments under international human rights law and standards.

In Brazil, two defenders of human rights and the Amazon, Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips, were murdered by unknown assailants recently.

Brazil is one of the world’s most lethal countries for human rights defenders and environmentalists, and this reality is the consequence of a policy that promotes attacks on environmental legislation, dismantles institutions for the promotion and protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and criminalises social movements and community organisations.

South Africa is also dealing with its own human rights violations, including the lack of access to basic services for people such as adequate or safe water and sanitation, high rates of gender-based violence, high rates of crime and alleged corruption which hampers the delivery of services to people, and excessive use of force by police including unlawful killings.

“With such wide ranging human rights issues plaguing the BRICS countries, the leaders of these countries must act immediately to redress violations and ensure accountability,” Shenilla Mohamed said.

“South Africa has one of the best Constitutions, based on human rights. If President Ramaphosa is serious about this, he cannot keep quiet when it comes to human rights violations, and call out any country, no matter their relationship to South Africa.”

Background

The association formed by five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is collectively known by the acronym ‘BRICS’.

The BRICS Leaders’ Summit is convened annually with discussions focusing on political and socio-economic coordination.

The first BRIC Summit took place in Russia in June 2009. In December 2010, South Africa was invited to join the group and the acronym was changed to BRICS.

The 14th BRICS Leaders’ Summit will be hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping virtually on 23 and 24 June 2022.