“`html

South Africa’s Leadership Role in International Justice & the Gaza Conflict

By Agnès Callamard, ⁤Secretary general at ⁢Amnesty International

South Africa has played a leading role⁢ in international efforts to prevent,⁢ stop and punish Israel’s ‍genocide ​against the Palestinians in ⁣Gaza. Now, as the nation prepares to host the first G20‌ Leaders’ Summit on African soil, it has an notable prospect to step up that pressure and fill the alarming void ⁢that has emerged in the international order.

While superpowers are undermining multilateralism through ⁣inaction and double standards,​ or actively attacking the ⁤international justice system, we look to states like⁤ south Africa to show principled leadership and champion a global vision that upholds and ​protects human rights universally.

The international community’s complicity or inaction in the face of Israel’s livestreamed genocide has ⁢been shameful and⁤ indefensible. World leaders’ collective failure to put ⁢a stop to Israel’s crimes under international law will stain their reputations for generations to come. Sadly,this was not for the first time.‍ They have far to often allowed⁣ international law to be trampled on, betraying the legacy of the global consensus who said “never again” to the horrors of ‍the⁣ Holocaust and the Second World​ War.

It ‌has been notably disconcerting to ‍see the architects of the rules-based‍ order take‍ a sledgehammer at the values, principles or institutions underpinning it, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the United ‍States’ military support to Israel and it’s shameless sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territoryand the palestinian NGOs al-Haq,Al Mezan Center ‌for Human Rights and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

The G20⁢ summit in Johannesburg comes after the African Union became a permanent member in 2023, affording the group ‌and its members enhanced influence on the international stage. Amid the global leadership​ vacuum and the Trump management’s “America First” approach to foreign policy, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s⁣ government must seize this opportunity to reinvigorate multilateralism and forge ⁤a ⁤new order truly committed to upholding international law ‍and equality.

South Africa has set​ a strong example and shown much-needed