UN report puts collusion with Israel on trial

Special rapporteur on Palestine has warned repeatedly that statements of concern do not save lives

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Evidence presented: UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese addressed delegates from the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and held a media conference afterwards on Tuesday. Photo: Nelson Mandela Foundation

(Nelson Mandela Foundation)

Attorney and lecturer in Human Rights, Law and Development Studies at the Wits School of Governance, Dr Thandiwe Matthews, said Albanese's reports since 2022 have charted clear violations of Palestinian rights, including arbitrary detention and the targeting of children and civilian infrastructure.

She said the latest findings go further by defining the legal contours of genocide and identifying the role of external actors - state and corporate - whose support enables it.

"All actors, and especially third-party states, have a duty to ensure that Israel complies with international law," she said.

"Ordinary citizens must hold governments and businesses to their obligations.

If South Africa is to uphold international law at the International Court of Justice, then the state and the private sector must ensure they are not sustaining or profiting from a conflict we are challenging in court.

"Albanese has provided documentary evidence of where responsibility lies. We all have a duty to uphold international law under our own Constitution.

"None of us can say we didn't know."

Johannesburg advocate Shabnum Mayet said accountability must reach into South African institutions: "To call for the prosecution of genocidaires at an international level, yet let those complicit in genocide walk free at home, is dangerous not only for our collective conscience but can have very real consequences on our security"

Political analyst Ebrahim Fakir said Pretoria's credibility would be tested in the months ahead.