High-powered South African team in India to scout for tie-up in information technology
From S. Venkat Narayan our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, December 8: South African Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Jay Naidoo arrived here today to scout for tie-ups with Indian companies in informa- tion technology (IT).

He is accompanied by a 35-member high- powered business delegation. A spokesman of the South African High Commission Naidoo and his delegation will also visit Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai, or Bombay, before returning home.

India is now regarded globally as a leading country in soft- ware development. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has predicted that India will soon emerge as a global super power in Infor- mation Technology.

The purpose of Naidoo's visit is to facilitate possible joint ventures and tie-ups between South African and Indian compa- nies in information technology, telecommunications, media and broadcasting sectors.

The delegation travelling with Naidoo comprises chief execu- tives of some of the leading South African companies in infor- mation technology and telecom, such as Sourcecom Technology Solutions, Capricorn, Vodacom, Thebe Media and Telecommunica- tions, Dimension Data, and Datatec.

RH Naqvi, executive director of India's Electronics and Com- puter Software Export Promotion Council, says the scope for bilateral trade and investment between India and South Africa is enormous.

South Africa is already ranked among India's top ten trading partners. Indian exports of electronics and computer software to South Africa amounted to US$12 million last year, an increase of 84 per cent over the previous year.

Naqvi said some of India's top software companies have already entered the South African market and are engaged primarily in customised services. Some of them have opened offices in South Africa and are selling hardware items.

A spokesman of the South African high commission said Minister Naidoo will be briefed on the information technology training policies being followed in India with a view to assisting South Africa in developing appropriate policies.

Minister Naidoo and his Indian counterpart Jagmohan will sign a memorandum of cooperation in telecommunications. India and South Africa have established a solid, multi-facted relationship during the last five years.

They have already signed 13 bilateral agreements and are presently negotiating another nine, which are likely to be concluded by March next year. President Nelson Mandela visited India thrice, followed by Executive Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and a host of other South African dignitaries.

A large number of Indian leaders, including two prime ministers, have visited South Africa. Bilateral trade has witnessed a ten-fold growth in the last five years, and amounted to over US$880 million last year. India has now emerged as the number one importer of South African defence equipment and technology.

Human rights: Recognition and observance
By Indrani Iriyagolle
Vice President, International Alliance of Women,
Former Chairperson Civil & Political Rights Commission (IAW)
President, Sinhala Kanthabhivurdhi Sanvidhanaya

Fifty years is a long period to look back and review the progress made in the field of Human Rights, since its adoption - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 1948. The Declaration adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations states its ideals 'as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.'

This was the first universal event that brought in a community of nations to make a declaration of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms. The document was backed by moral authority of a body of opinion of the United Nations. The Declaration was formulated in the background of atrocities meted out to African slaves, the ruthless tyranny of the Nazi regime, slaughter and repression of minorities and inhabitants (natives) of occupied territories. After World War II a series of treaties imposed on several European countries special obligations for the protection of racial, religious and national minorities. Although the League of Nations (precursor to the UN) was at first to supervise these obligations there arose widespread insistence that human rights must be internationally protected.

A variety of views have been expressed about the Declaration . While some states 'pledged to promote, achieve and observe what each of the governments wants' Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt said that 'it was not a treaty nor an international agreement, not a statement of law or one of legal obligation'.

Subsequently the United Nations General Assembly requested the Commission on Human Rights to prepare in treaty form 2 Covenants, one dealing with Civil and Political Rights and the other with Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Thus 5 major U.N. instruments exist today to define and to guarantee protection of Human Rights. They are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, and the 2 Operational Protocols to the last mentioned Covenant. The Declaration is a manifesto with primarily moral authority. The Covenants are Treaties binding on States which ratify them. Together they constitute the document known as the International Bill of Human Rights.

The Declaration consists of a Preamble and 30 articles. It clarifies the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms to which all men and women are entitled to without discrimination, everywhere in the world. It is the basic international statement of the inalienable and inviolable rights of all members of the human family. It is intended to serve as 'the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations', in the effort to secure universal and effective recognition and observance of the rights and freedoms it enlists.

The basic assumptions of the Declaration are further defined as i) the right to liberty and equality is man's birthright and cannot be alienated ii) Article 3 contains the first corner stone of the Declaration. It proclaims the right to life, liberty and security of person - a right essential to the enjoyment of all other rights and thus popularised as the 'essential human rights'. iii) and that because man is rational creature, he is different from other creatures and therefore entitled to certain rights and freedoms.

Recognition of the Declaration is accepted almost universally. It is a gauge by which Governments can measure their progress in the protection of human rights, ' a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations'. The substance of the 2 Covenants are drawn from the Declaration itself. Articles 4 - 21 deals clearly with the civil aspect and other legal concepts. The right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law and the right to effective judicial remedy. The family is recognised as a vital social unit with the right to enjoy freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home and correspondence. ' The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State'. Article 22-27 contains economic, social and cultural rights to which everyone is entitled though 'subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing their recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others. 'The value and influence of the Declaration was accented as a yardstick by which to measure the respect, dignity and compliance with international human rights standards. In recognition of these concepts and principles, both Covenants call upon all States to support the right to ' freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development''. Both Covenants reaffirm the equal right of men and women.

The two International Covenants
Both Covenants provide internal protection for specified rights and freedoms. Both have provisions barring discrimination in the exercise of human rights. Both have the force of law for the countries that ratify them. Sri Lanka has ratified them. The first Treaty, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognises the right to work, free choice of employment, fair wages, form and join unions, social security and an adequate standard of living conditions.. States' reports on their progress in the promotion of these rights are reviewed by a Committee of experts. (Their effective observance will be discussed later).

The Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognises the right of every person to life, liberty and security of person, privacy, freedom from cruel inhuman or degrading treatment, from torture, slavery, immunity from arbitrary arrest, to a fair trial, to recognition as a person before the law, to immunity from retroactive sentences, to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to freedom of opinion and expression, to liberty of movement, to peaceful assembly and to freedom of association. Article 14 - 16 explicitly states that everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed guilty until proven guilty. To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court, the right to have a sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal, and no one shall be punished again for which he has already been convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law. The right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives. To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot guaranteeing the free expression of the will of electors, and have access to the public service in the country. The law shall prohibit any discrimination on any grounds such as race, sex. language, religion, political or other opinion.

LTTE in South Africa - II
Part One of this article by Rohan Gunaratne was published in 'The Island' on December 2.

After being subjected to the LTTE's propaganda, Mandela called for third party intervention in Sri Lanka, both at the NAM and at the U.N. General Assembly. At the 53rd meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on September 21, 1998, Mandela said: 'Immediately, a whole range of areas of conflict confront us in Africa, Europe and Asia. All of us are familiar with these, which range from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Sudan in my own continent, to the Balkans in Europe and Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka in Asia. Clearly, this organisation and especially the Security Council acting together with people of goodwill in the countries and areas concerned, has a responsibility to act decisively to contribute to the termination of these destructive conflicts.'

Chandrika Kumaratunga's response to Mandela's comments was as follows: 'We in Sri Lanka are particularly conscious of the capacity of terrorist groups to resort to the strategy of using front organisations for raising funds which end up in the LTTE war chest to contribute towards murdering and brutalising our people. Moral and legal sanctions against terrorists are not enough. Laws must be effectively implemented. Only by such concerted action will we be able to ensure that terrorists are compelled to renounce violence and enter the democratic process. I would like to thank India and the United States of America in particular for having recognised and declared the LTTE to be the terrorist organisation that it is, and for encouraging my Government to settle this problem by political means. I would like to add here that this is an internal problem that Sri Lanka is fully able and ready to resolve with the full support of its peoples. We will not tolerate any outside interference whilst we appreciate all the support given to us by our friends abroad in resolving the conflict.'

Chandrika Kumaratunga further said: 'The LTTE's claim to be(ing) a 'liberation organisation' is an insult to organisations such as the African National Congress and the South West African People's Organisation, which courageously struggled against minority rule, racism and oppression and, with equal courage, negotiated the creation of the democratic, non-racial states of South Africa and Namibia.' She added: 'The LTTE's claim to be(ing) a Ôliberation organisation' is negated by its unilateral resort to violence and its reluctance to put its claims to the true test - that of participating in an open, democratic and peaceful process of consultation with the people.'

On October 13, Chandrika Kumaratunga had a three-hour discussion with Jerry Matsila, the South African High Commissioner to India, who is concurrently accredited to Sri Lanka. As expected, Matsila pleaded ignorance about the LTTE's activities in South Africa and denied the presence of LTTE training camps on that country's soil. Matsila provided the standard South African official response that the country was investigating the LTTE. (From the time the LTTE's training camps in South Africa were raided, this has been the standard response).

By permitting the LTTE and its support groups to operate on its soil, South Africa is tacitly encouraging the transfer of new technologies from Africa that will, in turn, boost the fighting capabilities of the LTTE.

Governments the world over are concerned about international procurement because new technologies often provide the cutting edge by increasing the lethal power of any force. The 37 million rands in funds, sophisticated armaments and dual technologies and trained combatants transferred from South Africa to the LTTE will mean an increase in the LTTE's capabilities. The opportunity to grow and operate in South Africa is a great blessing for the LTTE especially because it has been suffering heavy casualties since the time the Sri Lankan military launched an offensive against it back home.

Mandela's stature as a statesman has taken a beating because of repeated revelations about South Africa harbouring violent groups and the relations it maintains with states that support terrorism. Tolerating the presence of terrorist infrastructure in order to please a political constituency or to accommodate the request of a political or a personal ally is a major crime against a friendly state. The unprecedented wave of crime, corruption and provision of facilities for groups engaged in terrorism elsewhere is eroding the image of free South Africa. The short, mid-and long-term consequences of permitting the LTTE to operate in South Africa will lead to serious consequences, including a resurgence of Tamil nationalism, proliferation of weapons, flow of narcotics, corruption, and organised crime in South Africa.

In addition, there is a likelihood of South Africa becoming a meeting point for existing and emerging groups to exchange intelligence, conduct joint procurement exercises and even plan common strategies. This will have a tremendous impact on international security. The LTTE is also bound to expand its scope of operations further into Africa from its central base in South Africa. It already has cells in Reunion, Madagascar, Fiji, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland.

There are many similarities and dissimilarities between the situation that existed in South India between 1983 and 1987 and in South Africa between 1994 and 1998. Just as leaders in New Delhi were susceptible to the potential of the Tamil ethnic vote, South African leaders are vulnerable to ethnic compulsions.

The Tamil communities in both the countries are vulnerable to the LTTE's influence. Such calculations will play an important role in determining the future of LTTE politics in South Africa.

There is also evidence that the whites and Indians are feeling isolated in free South Africa. In this context, Dushmantha Ranatunge, a U.K.-based Sri Lankan researcher, makes an astute observation: 'Sri Lankan Tamils and South African Tamils are both minorities with influence far above their ethnic representation. Are South African Tamils fearful that their influence may be trimmed by the African majority as the Sri Lankan Tamils were by the Sinhalese? Is that why we are hearing of South African Tamil Tigers? Is this an alliance between two insecure minorities?' Ranatunge argues that the South African Tamils seem to be feeling isolated and the formation of the South African Tamil Tigers may be a preemptive strike at the coloured majority, fearing a Sinhala-style cutting down to size of Tamils in South Africa.

On October 28, Mandela sought to placate the Indian South Africans by asking them not to regard themselves as a minority, but to become a part of the majority and play an important role in the democratic transformation of the country. 'Move away from the sidelines and come to the centre and become a part of the majority,' he said.

In the light of these developments, South Africa's future appears to be uncertain. South African leaders of the 1990s - like their Indian counterparts in the 1980s - have underestimated the LTTE, a pan-Tamil organisation.

The LTTE can be denied access to South Africa only if the country's Government decides to designate it legally as an illegal organisation and pass legislation to proscribe its front organisations and companies operating in South Africa. However, it is highly unlikely that South Africa will take such measures because the LTTE's influence has grown singularly since 1994 and the Indian Tamil lobby is today formidable in South Africa.

In the past, questions about the LTTE's presence in South Africa have been discussed between the Presidents and the Foreign Ministers of the two countries. Although such discussions have affected the LTTE's operations in South Africa, they have not made a major dent in its functioning. Will Kadirgamar's recent visit create a significant impact because the South African media themselves have raised the issue now? Sri Lanka's political leaders and its intelligence community and foreign service personnel have a daunting task ahead of them in trying to advance Sri Lankan interests in South Africa.
(Concluded)
Rohan Gunaratna, who is currently a British Chebening scholar at the University, of St. Andrews in Scotland, is the author of Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security.

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