Nobel Laureates Peace Summit Suspended in Honour of His Holiness

By Mary Trewartha / October 12, 2014;

The 14th Nobel Laureates Peace Summit, due to be held in Cape Town this month has been suspended because South Africa refused to issue a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Four women laureates refused to attend, and fourteen others wrote to the South African President Jacob Zuma urging him to allow the Dalai Lama to visit South Africa, saying they were “deeply concerned about the damage that will be done to South Africa’s international image by a refusal or failure to grant him a visa yet again”.

His Holiness with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2008

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a close friend of the Dalai Lama and whose foundation is among the organisers of this year’s summit, hit out at the South African government for “kowtowing” to China in refusing a visa to the Tibetan leader, saying he was “ashamed to call this lickspittle bunch my government”.

This was the third time in five years that His Holiness been denied a visa to visit South Africa, drawing public outcry by South Africans who see it as a betrayal of the commitment to human rights embraced by their government since the end of apartheid 20 years ago. China, however, who is South Africa’s biggest single trading partner, welcomed the move by South Africa.

His Holiness accused South Africa of bullying , saying “The Nobel peace summit scheduled to be held in South Africa to honour the legacy of our fellow laureate, the late Nelson Mandela, has been cancelled as the South African government wouldn’t allow me to attend.” He thanked his fellow peace laureates for their efforts, saying they had worked hard to resolve the issue.

Jody Williams
Photo: icbl.org

Jody Williams, founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and one of the laureates who pulled out of the summit, accused President Jacob Zuma’s government of “selling its sovereignty” to China, and said it has violated the human rights of the Dalai Lama to attend the summit.

The mayoral office of Cape Town said the South African government has undermined South Africa’s international standing and embarrassed the country.

The Tibetan National Congress (TNC), an independent political party, launched a campaign last month urging the Nobel laureates to either boycott or relocate the summit to a venue more compatible with the Nobel Peace Prize’s ideals of open and inclusive dialogue. “We call for the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates to be relocated to a more appropriate venue because the world needs this summit and no authoritarian government should be allowed to control it by censoring which voices gets heard,” said TNC President Jigme Ugen.