Human Rights in Foreign Policy and Practice: The South African Case Considered

This paper opens with a look at the questions posed by Peter Baehr, an authority on the relationship between human rights and foreign policy, such as whether countries should attempt to promote human rights through foreign policy and how they can achieve this goal. The international legal human rights framework is outlined as the foundation for this engagement between human rights and foreign policy. The paper also presents arguments against this interpretation, noting that Article 1(3) of the UN Charter recognises the promotion of human rights and does not see this as interfering in the domestic jurisdiction of another state. Having examined the theoretical framework, the paper looks at perceptions of South Africa’s foreign policy, in particular the way in which the country is viewed as having opted out of human rights activism. Having examined the theoretical framework, the paper looks at perceptions of South Africa’s foreign policy, in particular the way in which the country is viewed as having opted out of human rights activism. It then offers some pointers on the appropriate connection between foreign policy and human rights. Key in this respect are the employment of human rights standards and the need to move beyond notions of the inviolability of sovereignty.