Programme Director, Heads of State, Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honour and privilege for me to make this statement on behalf of my country, South Africa.

Genocide or other forms thereof can be traced back to ancient times. Well-known examples during the early centuries include the widespread killings by the army of the 5th century Asian Conqueror Attila in Europe and the massacres across the Middle East by forces of the Mongol Conqueror Genghis Khan in the 13th century. The 19th century experienced, with grave concern, the Nazi holocaust during World War II and genocide in the former Yugoslavia since 1991. The genocide committed in Rwanda in 1994, started about two weeks before erstwhile victims in my country acquired and exercised the right to vote.

The international community has the legal frameworks namely the Geneva Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide of 1948 and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to prevent the crime of the crime of genocide. The will of governments is central to the fight against genocide.

As already underscored, Africa is no exception. The genocide in Rwanda and other parts of Africa, coupled with its predecessors, namely Colonialism and Slavery have ravaged the African continent. These have brought about various ills such as poverty, huge debt, disease (malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/Aids) and corruption. As endorsed by the African leaders, the 21st century is the century for the renewal of Africa. The New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) is central to such renewal of Africa. The development of Africa and other parts of the world will bring stability in the entire world, including equity at various levels of our societies. The rich countries in the North, should playa major role in their contribution towards the renewal of Africa.

Next year South Africa will be celebrating its 10th anniversary of democracy. This is also the celebration of the demise of apartheid which was based on racial lines. In celebrating the 10th anniversary we must ensure that such mistakes are not repeated. Our government has put in place policies and appropriate legislative framework to ensure that our country never again experiences oppression of one race over the other. One of the main challenges facing our government is to deal with poverty which affects many South Africans. Indeed at the continental level, these issues are being addressed through programmes such as NEPAD. The African Peer Review Mechanism is intended to assist African States in addressing issues that could lead to such problems as the one we are discussing today. One of the other steps taken by the African Union is to come up with a Protocol on unconstitutional change of government to deal with problems of coups d’état on the African continent. In the rules of procedure of the Assembly of the heads of states the issues of intervention in an African state in the situation of gross human rights violation and genocide is addressed.

We would like to encourage other regional groupings to take similar measures in preventing possibility of genocide.

South Africa has passed the Implementation of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court Act 2002 (Act 27 of 2002), which criminalises genocide. This crime is universal in the sense that our nationals who commit the crime outside South Africa or non-nationals who after committing the crime outside South Africa happen to be in our shores can be tried and punished by a court designated for that purpose. Individual responsibility includes a Head of State or armed forces of any rank. Furthermore, South Africa has ratified the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocols thereto. We are in the process of developing legislation to incorporate these instruments.

In conclusion Programme Director, States which have ratified the above instruments and incorporated them into their own domestic law should be commended. States which have not done so are urged to follow suit. Many ratifications and implementation legislation will ensure the protection of nations against genocide. The United Nations, in particular the Security Council must be reformed to ensure its credibility in handling armed conflicts. The Bretton Woods Organisations such as the IMF, World Bank and the World Trade Organisation and need to be reformed as well to ensure their legitimacy in addressing poverty and other social ills brought by genocide. At the helm of every effort, Heads of States and their fellow politicians should 'walk their talk'. The international community should form a movement for the fight against genocide and all its forms. Full cooperation with and respect for lives of humanitarian activists, such as the UN personnel and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) personnel and other volunteers, should be central during war.