Africa ambivalent on Russia’s HRC suspension

UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations  General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from its Human Rights Council (HRC) on Thursday following allegations of war crimes by Kremlin troops in Ukraine – but African diplomats did not widely back the move.

Compared to the vote on the resolution to condemn the invasion that was held in early March, more African countries abstained and voted against the decision this time.

Out of 54 nations on the continent, 24 abstained, including Angola, Botswana, Cabo Verde. Egypt, Eswatini, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa., South Sudan, Togo, Uganda and  Tanzania.

Nine voted against the move, including Algeria and Ethiopia, which have both had historically good relations with Moscow. Zimbabwe, Burundi, Eritrea, Congo, Mali and the Central African Republic voted against too.

Another 11 had no vote recorded, Rwanda, Zambia and Somalia included.

Only 10 countries backed the suspension of Russian from the 47-member HRC. These were Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Libya, Malawi and Seychelles.

So why is Africa seemingly staying on the fence or backing Russia?

Comments from South Africa, the continent’s largest economy that has abstained twice from voting against Moscow at the general assembly, explain some of the ambivalence.

“The conflict has exposed the inability of the UN Security Council to fulfil its mandate of maintaining international peace and security,” AFP quoted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as saying on Thursday.

He said that the membership of the UN Security Council, which has five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the UK and the US), was “outdated and unrepresentative”.

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor also defended her country’s non-aligned stance, saying the conflict had shown “the glaring double standards of the international community”.