Why is the ANC silent on human rights abuses?

ANYONE watching BBC’s lead news story on June 22 would be aghast at the unfolding human rights tragedy of the Muslim Uighur people in China where the deliberate separation of Muslim children is taking place from their families, faith and language in its far western region of Xinjiang.

Hundreds of thousands of adults are being detained in giant “re-educational” camps.

The same newscast has comprehensive evidence about what is happening to the Uighur people in China. China is accused of locking up thousands of Muslims without trial, and while she denies this by telling the world these people are willingly attending “vocational schools”, BBC’s investigation has found evidence of this and points to racial profiling of a whole section of their population.

Amnesty International, said authorities criminalised what they labelled “illegal religious” and “separatist activities” and clamped down on “peaceful expressions of cultural identity”.

Many government departments banned Muslim civil servants from fasting during Ramadaan.

Given that the BBC is one of the most reliable news sources, surely those human rights activists and organisations need to include the condemnation of China for such human rights abuses, including separating children from parents and detaining Muslims against their will in secret camps where reports of torture and worse have been leaked?

Apartheid practices such as racial profiling also need to be condemned by all human rights groups activists.

Recently the acting secretarygeneral of the ANC condemned and even threatened to sever diplomatic ties with another country she accused of human rights abuse.

One must wonder why this same senior ANC official is so silent on other human rights abuses – even if perpetrated by a friendly BRICS partner country.

Are there various degrees of human rights abuse in the eyes of the secretary-general?

And one must question the legitimacy of a supposed vociferous Human Rights organisation which calls itself Africa4Palestine (aka BDS), yet is silent about these crimes perpetrated by the Chinese government against humanity and the same government’s apartheid practices of racial profiling.

Human rights abuses anywhere across the world are anathema.

But for activists to be selective in their condemnation depending on where the abuses occur speaks volumes about their veracity.

And when they choose to overlook other abuses, like genocide and occupations around the world, this is indisputable evidence of their duplicity.

ALLAN WOLMAN | Tel Aviv