South Africa: Poweful states are unpunished even though they commit genocide
Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, said that international legal institutions leave powerful countries and their allies unpunished even in genocide crimes.
In his speech at the G-20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brazil, Pandor mentioned the bad reaction of some powerful states to South Africa’s case on International Court of Justice of genocide and war crimes commited by Israel in Palestine.
Stating that this situation is “an indicator of the institutional bias that prevails in international law,” Pandor said, “In other words, international law and institutions do not aim to hold powerful countries and their allies responsible, even for such genocidal crimes. This practice has led to decades of institutionalized impunity by the most powerful countries and their allies.” said.
Pandor stated that the situation must change and said, “It is now more urgent than ever to transform and use global governance institutions to ensure a more fair and equitable international legal order for everyone. Making international law accessible to all includes the urgent need for reform of the United Nations (UN) system.”
Stating that the failures of the UN Security Council cost tens of thousands of lives in Ukraine and Palestine, Pandor said, “The Security Council needs reform and this should be done immediately. At the BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg last year, the two permanent members of the UN Security Council committed to urgent reform of the Council. We believe that other permanent members of the UN Security Council, who are members of the G20, will follow the same path.” he said.
