JOHANNESBURG, May 31, 2023 -- President Cyril Ramaphosa is being targeted in a prominent billboard campaign urging him to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin should he set foot on South African soil in August for a BRICS summit.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against Putin for the war crime of abducting Ukrainian children en masse. As an ICC signatory, South Africa has a legal duty to arrest Putin if he visits the country, yet the Russian President is set on attending the BRICS Summit in Gauteng this August following an invitation by South Africa.

The billboards are orchestrated by global campaign group, Avaaz, which gathered more than 500,000 signatures on a petition calling for Putin's arrest.

Ruth Delbaere, Senior Legal Officer at Avaaz, said: "Putin’s visit would roll out the red carpet for a wanted war criminal. This is a make or break moment for South Africa's moral compass: it has a chance to stand with the oppressed, or turn its back on them and side with a man responsible for the abduction of thousands of children. If Putin's trip goes ahead and he leaves a free man, it’ll be a victory for impunity everywhere."

The digital billboards are in prominent locations on highways connecting Pretoria and Johannesburg, the economic hub of the country. They are designed to be seen by droves of commuters and Cabinet members, who frequently use those highways to commute between their homes or the airport and the Union Buildings, which is President Ramaphosa’s office.

The ads are part of a 14 month-long Avaaz campaign to ensure the Kremlin is held accountable for the war, including documented war crimes and the crime of aggression. Over 2 million people around the world, alongside Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk, have called for Putin to be put on trial under international law.

Last week, African National Congress Secretary General Fikile Mbalula, said the ANC would "welcome" a visit by Putin for the BRICS Summit. The South African government sent a delegation to Russia for a “high-level security meeting” -- highlighting just how close the two countries have become. Meanwhile it is also sending a high-level delegation to Ukraine, as part of an “Africa peace initiative” supported by President Ramaphosa, in an apparent attempt to maintain its neutral stance.

Oleksandra Matviichuk, Ukrainian activist and head of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Center for Civil Liberties, said : “South Africans know better than anyone what it means to fight for freedom. This is why so many Ukrainians are looking to South Africa to stand with us as we fight for the freedom of our country, and of the thousands of Ukrainian children stolen by Russia. If Putin travels to South Africa, we urge President Ramaphosa to honour its proud legacy and arrest this wanted war criminal – show that South Africa stands on the side of the oppressed, not the oppressors.”

Sherylle Dass, Regional Director at the Legal Resources Centre, said : "Not only does South Africa have an international duty to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, but South African law itself commits the country to bring perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes to justice. The South African government therefore must comply and cooperate with the ICC to arrest any person accused of atrocity crimes; to refuse would be a violation of both international and domestic law.

Additionally, in its Al Bashir ruling the ICC has clarified that immunity cannot be invoked to justify not cooperating with an ICC arrest warrant, because there is no international or customary law that supports the existence of head of state immunity vis-à-vis an international court. Moreover, South Africa's own ICC Implementation Act does not provide for head of state immunity."

Campaigners say that the 2023 BRICS Summit and President Putin’s visit is an opportunity for South Africa to demonstrate that its foreign policy has not abandoned human rights, nor should its non-alignment policy inadvertently lead to an endorsement of war crimes. South Africa has had a reputation of being a voice of moral good on the international stage since 1994, and there are growing calls for South Africa to live up to this reputation once again.

South Africans can take a stand against the government’s intention not to comply with the ICC arrest warrant by signing a petition calling for President Putin’s arrest. Avaaz will continue its campaigning for freedom, and galvanising the world’s citizens to hold perpetrators to account across the globe like it has done in the past – from calling for sanctions on Israel for crimes against humanity against Palestinians and for an end to the bloodbath in Myanmar, to campaigns against the war in Iraq and to urge the ICC to investigate former Brazilian President Bolsonaro for crimes against Indigenous peoples.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Contact:

• Media@avaaz.org
• Amy Musgrave: musgraveamy@gmail.com
• +27 83 488 1059

Interviews are available with:

• Either Fadi Quran, Campaign Director at Avaaz or Ruth Delbaere, Senior Legal Officer at Avaaz
• Oleksandra Matviichuk, Ukrainian activist and head of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Center for Civil Liberties

The ICC indictment:

• Earlier this year, Yale University released a bombshell report confirming that Russia has taken thousands of Ukrainian children as part of a systematic operation to replace any childhood attachment to Ukraine with a love for Russia. According to the report, children from 4 months to 17 years old have been taken, with many placed in Russian re-education camps and some forcibly adopted by Russian families.
• Shortly thereafter, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova for the war crime of unlawfully deporting children.

About Avaaz:
Avaaz is a global campaigning organisation with 70 million members worldwide working passionately to solve the biggest challenges of our time. From defending human rights and protecting democracies, fighting disinformation and standing up for indigenous rights, to ensuring biodiversity protected areas to pushing governments for urgent climate action – Avaaz has a proven track record of creating powerful visuals at key moments - HERE and HERE .