Africa’s liberation history demands that we stand on the side of justice, freedom, and dignity always.
From the anti-colonial movements that swept the continent, the moral clarity of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid, and revolutions that became the birthplace of democratisation, our liberation legacy is not merely history; it is a compass.
It reminds us that freedom anywhere is bound to freedom everywhere, and that silence in the face of oppression is complicity.
Around the world, rising conflict, deepening inequality, and weakened multilateral institutions have left humanity at a crossroads.
It is at this crossroads that I stand firmly in solidarity with Francesca Paola Albanese, Human Rights lawyer and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Her forthcoming keynote at the 23rd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, themed Enhancing Peace and Global Cooperation, arrives at a moment when humanity itself seems to teeter between conscience and collapse. It is more than a lecture; it is a reminder that moral clarity must not bow to political convenience. And it is a call that feels more urgent than ever.
In a world brimming with apathy and nationalism, Nelson Mandela’s legacy of strong resistance, compassion, and diplomacy is more relevant than ever.
South Africa’s own long walk to freedom remains one of humanity’s most enduring testaments to the power of dialogue, reconciliation, and principle. Yet, its democracy was never meant to be an island of peace in a sea of global injustice. Nelson Mandela understood that our freedom would be incomplete without the freedom of Palestine, a conviction shared across generations of African leaders, from Julius Nyerere to Thomas Sankara.
As Africans, we all carry a memory of oppression that sharpens our empathy. We know what it means to live under siege, to have our land occupied, our leaders imprisoned, and our voices silenced. That memory obliges us to stand with those whose suffering mirrors our own history, and none more so today than the people of Palestine.
In her three-year tenure as UN Special Rapporteur, Albanese has become an indispensable chronicler of ongoing injustice. Her reports have accused Israel of operating an “apartheid regime” and committing “acts of genocide”, findings that often preceded similar conclusions by major human rights organisations. In the face of immense political pressure, she has refused to dilute her analysis or shy from naming systemic violence.
In July 2025, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Albanese, alleging that she was waging “political and economic warfare” against the U.S. and Israel. This unprecedented act of targeting a UN human rights expert was widely condemned by the UN, Amnesty International, and global legal scholars, who warned that the sanctions threaten the integrity of the international human rights system itself.
To sanction someone for documenting violations is to criminalize truth-telling. It is a warning shot to all who dare to uphold the law when it challenges power. Yet Albanese has stood firm, unbowed.
As Africans, we know that dialogue across difference, even with one’s oppressor, is the highest form of moral strength. The transition from apartheid to democracy was neither perfect nor painless, but it was grounded in a belief that human dignity cannot be negotiated away.
This belief must guide global leadership today. Dialogue and cooperation do not mean denial of wrongdoing. It means facing truth together, acknowledging shared humanity, and building systems that make justice possible.
Moral clarity often comes at a cost. To speak truth to power will always invite hostility; yet silence would be the greater betrayal.
From Africa to Palestine, from Soweto to Gaza, the thread of our shared humanity binds us. Our task is to ensure it does not fray.
Let this be our call: to defend dignity over dominance, cooperation over coercion, and truth over fear. For only when justice is indivisible can peace be truly universal.
Pan-African feminist and Tunisian Diplomat