COPE condemns ANC and Government Silence on Libyan massacre

As gruesome footage of corpses in Libya continue to shock people around the world, the ANC-led government's and the Tri-Partite Alliance's continued silence is pathetic to say the least.

South Africa, a country that claims to be a continental leader, example and bastion of freedom and democracy, is duty-bound to respond to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Libya as prospects of full-blown civil war looms.

While the blood of Libyan citizens run through the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi,and Gaddafi calls for the "cockroaches" to be squashed, international reactions continue to poor in, and the South African voice in international affairs is ominously silent.

In the wake of this appalling silence one is but left to wonder, as today's Business Day does, about the content and substance of the ANC-led government's foreign policy.

The ANC, and President Zuma in particular, have gone out of their way to treat Gaddafi like a hero, allowing the self-proclaimed saviour of the Libyan people to get away with the most outrageous behaviour on South African soil!

The ANC-led government's silence brings back old thorny questions about the financial ties between the ruling party and the riches of Gaddafi. Has the ANC's, and by extension government's, silence been bought? Has South Africa sold out its principles and the founding provisions of our Constitution for large and frequent sums of money deposited into the ANC's coffers? The same applies to the SACP.

Considering our own hard won freedom that we enjoy today, it is high time that South Africa puts its weight fully behind the legitimate expression of the will of the Libyan people and yet again lead by example!

We call on the South African government to pressure the African Union (who has been equally and spuriously silent to-date) and the United Nations Security Council to condemn in the strongest terms Gaddafi's murderous actions and threats against those he claim to 'benevolently' govern and guide.

We echo the words of UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon that the military targeting of Libyan civilians, "if confirmed, would constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law" and in our view demands immediate and decisive intervention, by force if necessary, to ensure the safety and well-being of our fellow African brothers and sisters.

We have struggled against external domination and persecution, fought against colonial ownership and Apartheid, and in solidarity proclaim that "an injury to one, is an injury to all"! No amount of money paid to the ANC should ever buy our government's silence on such gruesome and tragic human rights abuses, and above-all, it should never buy the life of any African!

Statement issued by Phillip Dexter, Congress of the People, February 23 2011

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