On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi
dissident, a Washington Post columnist walked into the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul for some consular papers and ZAP!
He never walked out again. After pressure from different quarters, the Saudi
Government owned up to have killed him inside the consulate.
What was his offence? The exercise of his rights was
his major and probably only offence. His rights as a human being to have
divergent opinion on issues; his rights as a journalist to report and express opinion.
He was killed because he did not share the same opinion on human rights with
Saudi Government. It’s not that journalists and dissidents are not killed by
their governments, but this killing is one of its kind. Not that he was run
down by a car or shot in the streets or murdered in his home; he was killed inside
his country’s consulate in a foreign land.
Many governments have expressed surprise and shock at
the strange occurrence and have challenged Saudi Arabia to explain the
circumstances of this journalist’s murder. But not a word from any African
leader; neither from African Union or from any of the regional bodies. As
usual, they have remained silent as they always do when human rights are
threatened anywhere in the world. Do they really think it is too far away from
their shores to take a position? Are they scared of losing some favors from the
abusers of others’ rights? Or have they conceded the right to speak on their
behalf to their “former” metropoles?
The emergence and success at the polls of neo-nationalist
parties in the West needs to get Africans and their leaders thinking. Neo-nationalist
ideology is founded on exclusion which has its roots in denial of certain rights
of their targets. Black Africans, who for centuries were forcefully argued out
and excluded from history should be particularly sensitive to the narratives
and behavior of these neo-nationalists and should firmly denounce this tendency
at all times and anytime irrespective of where the infringements are taking
place in the world. It cannot be dismissed as internal politics because these
states are powerful and their internal problems cause ripples all over the
world. Sitting and watching from the fence is a human security risk for Black
Africans. The same arguments and attitudes that were used to exclude Black
Africans from human community are being revisited today. Conceded small victories
should be jealously protected and should never be taken for granted.
The threat from neonationalist ideology as far as it
concerns us Black Africans lies in the disregard and disdain for erstwhile “sacred”
agreements and treaties between countries. These instruments are being revisited
and discarded by these parties in the name of national interests and security.
This should be a major cause of concern to African leaders even when it is happening
far away from the shores of Africa.
The current administration of United States is the
most powerful representative of the neonationalist tendencies and it is showing
the way by tearing up different agreements and treaties in the name of national
interests and national security. Just to cite a few, in June 2018, the United
States quitted the UN human rights council which was set up in 2006 to replace
the UN Commission on Human Rights; in October this year, the US announced its
withdrawal from the Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights
between the US and Iran that was signed in 1955. Just a couple of days back,
President Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty that US signed with Russia in 1987. The sanctity of
agreements is being gradually violated and Africans are looking on.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was
signed in December 1948 in the absence of Africans. Only apartheid South
Africa, which abstained from voting was among the 48 countries that voted in favor
of the Declaration. Africans weren’t there, but we are beneficiaries as individuals
and as States. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966 and
came into force in 1976. Article 1 of Part 1 recognizes the right of all
peoples to self-determination, including the right to "freely determine
their political status, pursue their economic, social and cultural goals, and
manage and dispose of their own resources”.
The same threat from neonationalists that hangs over
many treaties hangs over the UDHR and the ICESCR. In the event of take-over of
the world by neonationalists, these instruments will be confided to history and
Africans will be at serious risk.
If we and our leaders do not want to relive our history
of pain, suffering and loss, and be taken not as explorers to Mars, now is the
time to act. We must collectively defend the rights of individuals, peoples and
communities irrespective of where the abuse is taking place in the world.
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