An Open Letter to S African President to Apologise for Denying Visa to His Holiness Monday, 6 April 2009, 10:34 a.m.

In this 21 August 1996, file photo, Tibet’s spiritual and temporal leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, left, meets with President Nelson Mandela, right, in Cape Town South Africa/Washington Post

Dharamshala: Over 200 organizations and individuals signed an open letter to South African President Kgalema Motlanthe calling for an apology to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and also show their solidarity to Health Minister Hogan.  The South African government had refused to issue a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama from attending an international peace summit in Johannesburg. The summit, which was earlier scheduled on 27 March, has been postponed indefinitely after the participants including noted nobel peace laureates such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President FW de Klerk refused to attend without the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.In a letter dated 5 April, the signatories said: “We, the undersigned organizations and individuals support the call by Health Minister Barbara Hogan for government to apologise for the decision to prohibit the Dalai Lama from entering South Africa. We also call on government to reverse the decision.”As Minister Hogan stated, this decision by the government was made on behalf of all citizens. It undermines the values of freedom, equality, dignity and sovereignty upon which our Constitution is founded. Given our history South Africa should be at the forefront of resisting the use of economic power to bully other countries into silence on human rights violations. But we are also concerned that there may be undeclared interests at play in the decision to bow to China on this issue, such as party political funding.”It is unfortunate that Minister Hogan has become the centre of attention regarding the ban on the Dalai Lama. The South African Human Rights Commission and others had already publicly expressed their concern regarding the government’s decision prior to the statement that was made by Hogan. The real issue is not about Hogan but about the foreign policy choices of our government.”Political leaders must be loyal first and foremost to the Constitution.  Hogan was not only giving voice to her conscience, but was also speaking in defence of our Constitution and the duty of the state to represent us all in a manner that is befitting of constitutional values.  In the past, threats by presidents of the United States based on its economic power did not stop Nelson Mandela and other senior government leaders from speaking honestly on global human rights violations, including torture in Iraq and the rights of oppressed people to self determination.”Again we call on our government to reverse its decision to deny the Dalai Lama entry into South Africa and to apologise for its mistake. This will take courage but our people will support it as will the global community of citizens.  We also call on the government to assure us that no action will be taken against Minister Hogan whose leadership of the health department has begun to repair the damage and despair caused by her predecessor.”Earlier, the Norwegian Nobel peace prize committee and Nobel peace laureates condemned and expressed disappointment over the South African government’s decision to prevent His Holiness the Dalai Lama from attending a peace conference.(Click here to read about the signatories)