South Africa's foreign policy had shown an eagerness to abandon democratic and human rights values in order to shield oppressive regimes, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said.
In a Human Rights Day statement, Leon said South Africa could rightfully and proudly proclaim that there would never be another Sharpeville.
But millions of people, in the world and South Africa's neighbourhood, were still living "under a tyrant's heel" and were denied basic civil rights and political liberties, he said.
"The hard question which South Africa needs to answer on this Human Rights Day is profound... Do we defend the oppressed in other countries; do we fight for the protection of human rights across the globe?"
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"Looking at our current foreign policy, the answer to this question is regrettably too often in the negative."
South Africa's conduct at the United Nations (UN) had indicated "a disappointing eagerness" to abandon democratic and human rights values in order to "shield oppressive regimes from world attention", Leon said.
Among stances on other countries, this included a recent "no" vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution to condemn human rights abuses in Myanmar and reluctance for the crisis in Zimbabwe to be debated.
"Instead of furthering an agenda based on the protection and promotion of human rights... we are more concerned with using bureaucratic excuses to shield tyrants and despots from international scrutiny."
Leon said it "speaks volumes" that government did not condemn the recent arrest and torture of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
South Africa was one of 22 countries absent from the UN General Assembly when a resolution was adopted to condemn Holocaust denialism in January.
In doing so, the country had stood "shoulder to shoulder" with some of the world's "worst abusers of human rights".
"The government cannot profess a commitment to upholding and protecting human rights when, on the international stage, we go out of our way to temporise with tyranny." - Sapa
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