11 December 2014 ACDP Parliament Speech at the Memorial Service – Groenewald Family & Mr Korkie Cheryllyn Dudley, MP and Whip “Protecting Freedom of Religion or Belief is not about protecting religions and beliefs from criticism or even ridicule - it is about the freedom of people themselves to believe in different religions or concepts.” – Cheryllyn Dudley On behalf of the Leader and Members of the African Christian Democratic Party I would like to convey heartfelt condolences to Hannelie and all who knew and loved the Groenewald family. Despite the escalating atrocities by extremists globally we were still shocked to hear that this former South African pastor and his teenage children were killed by the Taliban in the city of Kabul in Afghanistan. We salute Werner, Hannelie, Jean-Pierre and Rodé for the selfless choices they made in order to help the communities they served. We would also like to appreciate Partnership in Academics and Development (PAD), who have said they remain committed to providing education resources for Afghan people – we will be praying for their staff and families as they grieve the loss of their friends and co-workers and nurse the wounded. As a Member of Parliament on the International Relations Portfolio Committee, I have a message for you from Hon Masango, the Chairman of this Committee: “On behalf of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation and indeed Parliament, we send our message of condolences to Mrs Hannelie Groenewald and the rest of the Groenewald family. People of the world should be free to visit any country without the fear of victimization. As South Africa, we condemn any act of terrorism in whatever form it comes”. As the ACDP, we also join many - including the South African Government - in expressing great sadness over news that Mr Pierre Korkie, who was held in captivity in Yemen since mid-2013, was killed during an operation by American special forces aimed at freeing hostages – and we send sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr Korkie. The South African government undertook numerous initiatives through former Deputy Minister, Mr Ebrahim Ebrahim, and our Ambassador in Saudi Arabia to help secure Mr Korkies release and Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has re-iterated the South African Governments “firm and unconditional condemnation of all forms of terrorism that invariably result in the senseless suffering and loss of innocent lives”. On International Womans Day this year, I had an opportunity to remind the President of South Africa and Members of Parliament that Freedom of Religion will not hold up on its own, saying: if we stand by while global terrorism destroys Freedom of Religion around the world, we will stand alone when we are under siege”. I have also been privileged to be counted among 30 parliamentarians from around the world that signed an unprecedented joint statement last month, committing ourselves to advance religious freedom. In the face of escalating violations of religious freedom worldwide, the International Panel of Parliamentarians –the IPP - was launched at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, on November 8 2014, to create a global religious freedom coalition. The Charter for Freedom of Religion or Belief commits parliamentarians to promote religious freedom or belief for all persons through their work and respective institutions and enhance global cooperation. Freedom of Religion is restricted in many parts of the world and in many different ways. There is often a connection between high restrictions on Freedom of Religion and Belief in a society and high levels of violent conflict and military spending. Poor economic development, a low status and participation of women in social and economic matters and poor health are also generally evident. Violations, too often come from restrictive or unfair laws and regulations, state harassment, monitoring, raids and imprisonment without legitimate legal processes but - they also occur at the hands of neighbours and communities, especially if the state fails to take action against acts of hostility. Freedom of Religion or Bellief protects, not only those who believe in a God (Religious groups), but those who do not (atheists), and those who believe it is impossible to know whether there is a God or not (agnostics) – take it away and you take away a person’s identity. Protecting Freedom of Religion or Belief is not about protecting religions and beliefs from criticism or even ridicule - it is about the freedom of people themselves to believe in different religions or concepts. While human rights are not a list of rights from the most important to the least important - they are a collective and are all important - Freedom of Religion and Belief has taken on an orphan-like status. Today’s Memorial Service is yet another reminder of the importance of Freedom of Religion and Belief and the need to continue our work in this very important arena.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:41:45 +0000
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