By: Christian Conteh
At a special emergency session on the war in Ukraine following reports of human rights violations committed by Russian forces The Gambia has joined 58 members (21 African) of the UN who abstained from the vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Commission.
A total of 93 member nations voted in favour of the suspension of the eastern bloc which has continued its ‘invasion’ of Ukraine for nearly two months.
Before the commencement of voting, Ukrainian Ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, urged countries to support the resolution.
“Bucha and dozens of other Ukrainian cities and villages, where thousands of peaceful residents have been killed, tortured, raped, abducted and robbed by the Russian Army, serve as an example of how dramatically far the Russian Federation has gone from its initial declarations in the human rights domain,” Kyslytsya told the Assembly.
Adding that, “that is why this case is unique and today (Thursday’s) response is obvious and self-explanatory.”
Besides The Gambia, other African Nations who abstained from the voting process include Angola, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Egypt, Eswatini, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.
