Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum Statement on the South Africa’s denial of a visa to H.H. the Dalai Lama

Just because it's important more people see this letter. Posting without consent but I doubt they would mind much :)

SA Government Denies Visa to H.H. the Dalai Lama

Recently, the South African government refused an entry visa for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to attend a conference about peace and the promotion of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Below is the joint statement of the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum:

Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum Statement on the
South Africa’s denial of a visa to H.H. the Dalai Lama
26 March 2009
Cape Town, South Africa


To His Excellency, Kgalema Motlanthe, President of the Republic of South Africa;

RE: Religious leaders express concern over the refusal of a visa to H.H. the Dalai Lama

The Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum wishes to express its serious concern and regret over your decision to deny a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the occasion of the proposed conference to celebrate world peace and the 2010 Football World Soccer Cup in South Africa.

We believe that diverse elements of our civil society have expressed to you their anger and disappointment in your judgement. The Very Reverend Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has clearly stated his unhappiness with the action and its underlying causes. You know better than we do what motivated such an odd decision. It is, nonetheless, a stark reminder of the need to separate the functions of the ruling political party and the Head of State.

It is our practice at the WCRLF not to simply criticise our leaders but to share in a dialogue with you about our values and the quality of governance in South Africa.

We do not underestimate the great pressures experienced in your position, but we believe that there are some guiding principles which should inform decision making and which are the measure of our successes, both yours and ours.

Foreign policy is an important area of South African sovereignty. The UN Charter and the African Charter both affirm the sovereignty of the State to make its own decisions according to a combination of its own context and values, in concert with international human rights standards and norms.

More particularly, our foreign policy is directly derived from our Constitution, which itself is the product of our struggle for national liberation, for universal adult suffrage, and for redressing the past inequalities in our land. Our Constitution is informed by a desire for peace and security rooted in equality of opportunity and universal human dignity. Our Bill of Rights is recognised around the world as an exceptional statement of standards and values.

As religious leaders, we embrace the values of the South African Constitution. Under the apartheid regime, faith communities were not afforded equal rights, equal dignity, freedom of speech or access to government. Today that has changed. As Moslems, Jews, Christians, Baha’i, Traditional African Religious practitioners, we know that our government is there to serve us all and to uphold our shared and hard won values.

In this context, your decision to block a visit by one of the world’s most highly respected and visible spokespersons for religious faith, tolerance and human rights comes as a shock to us.

By acceding to Beijing’s political demands you have weakened our national sovereignty. The Peoples’ Republic of China is a friend to Africa. It has invested substantially in infrastructure and development across the continent. Beijing has resisted colonial and imperial interests to create a powerful nation that is able to challenge the hegemony of the Western powers. Yet, despite the important opportunities for Sino-African solidarity and cooperation, it is still not appropriate for any foreign power to ask us to sacrifice our values and our constitutional principles in exchange for their support. This is at the heart of the African Charter and our own Constitution.

The Peoples’ Republic of China denies the right of Tibetans to self-determination. This is primarily an issue between China and its own citizens. We as South Africans may have our various opinions on the matter, but it is an issue for the responsible parties to resolve through negotiation, as we ourselves have done here.

We remind you that both the South African Constitution and the African Charter guarantee to all peoples the right of self-determination. This principle has been repeatedly affirmed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, most recently in 2003 with its decision to recognise, at the behest of South Africa, that indigenous peoples experience collective discrimination and have the right to collective self-determination and respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms. This does not mean that the San intend creating a separate state. It means they have the right to be recognised as do all other Africans, and a right to dignity.

When considering China’s relations with its minorities, national groupings and neighbours, we are bound to respect both China’s sovereignty while maintaining our own African democratic values, namely the right of self-determination, human rights, socio-economic rights, freedom and equality.

The media has reported that the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang asserted that more states are support Beijing's condemnation of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhist monks. Qin Gang stated that Beijing ''appreciated efforts by all nations that support China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and oppose Tibetan independence,'' Clearly the Foreign Ministry spokesperson suffers from some confusion between the notion of State sovereignty and the right of self-determination as set out in the UN Charter and the Covenants. The Tibetan assertion to their identity does not necessarily imply or deny their right to territorial sovereignty.

We trust that you, a President of the Republic of South Africa, and champion of our liberation struggle, will speak out clearly to clarify that our sovereignty is inclusive of human dignity, human rights, freedom of religion, opinion and conscience.

We ask you to pray and reflect within your own appropriate tradition, and to ask if you have really done what you believe to be right. As leaders of diverse faiths and communities, we believe you have erred in your judgement.