By Patrick Guramatunhu- On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. The world has witnessed yet another horror story of death and destruction, the barbarism and inhumanity man.
Last week the United Nations (UN) General Assembly voted on resolution expressing “grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine”. The resolution to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council and it passed with 93 YES, 24 NO and 58 abstentions. This was the first time ever in the UN’s history that a member nation has been expelled from one of the UN organs.
Some people would have wanted Russia expelled from UN body altogether. This would have required a unanimous YES vote by the Security Council; impossible in this case since Russia is one of the five permanent members who wield a veto.
Zimbabwe was one of the 24 nations that voted NO.
“In his first public comments over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said it (invasion) was a “robust” response by President Vladmir Putin to “provocation” by NATO, a military alliance of 30 countries including the United States and Britain,” commented Zimlive in Bulawayo 24.
“Our activities in the past two months, and going forward, should be understood from that broad, regional, continental and global perspective,” quoting President Mnangagwa.
“Zimbabwe, itself already a victim of western unilateralism, is in the full glare of all these global headwinds. Against NATO’s provocative eastward expansion in Europe, and the Russian Federation’s robust response to that threat of encirclement by NATO, a new situation has arisen which requires that we re-map the world with a view to finding our own place and securing our interests.
“Like in the case of Zimbabwe which has endured more than two decades of illegal sanctions, the conflict raging in Eastern Europe has made many nations realise how powerful nations and global interests still function on old and archaic notions of ‘spheres of influence’, and that they will not hesitate to use unilateral economic coercion to bully independent-minded states unwilling to kowtow to their whims and interests.”
What is Mnangagwa wittering about? It is Russia, not NATO and the West, which is “still functioning on old and archaic notions of spheres of influence”!
The economic and political of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) in 1989 marked the end Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact) as all the countries is Eastern Europe left in droves and abandoned the socialist system of government in favour of the Western Europe democratic system. USSR itself broke up as many groupings/regions demanded independence from Moscow.
Ukraine is one former USSR republics that broke away and has since abandoned socialism in favour of democracy and capitalism. It is the people of Ukraine who have been sorting closer ties with the West, they have already expressed interest in joining the European (economic and political) Union (EU) and then to join NATO (military alliance).
President Putin has objected to Ukraine, an independence and sovereign nation, joining NATO and is the one using brute force, bombing whole cities in Ukraine killing defenceless civilians, women and children.
President Mnangagwa did not condemn the murderous barbarism Russia in inflicting on the people of Ukraine because he got the wrong end of the story. He is supporting President Putin’s contemptuous disregard of rule of law and the freedoms and rights of Ukrainians to decide their own future and even the right to life because Mnangagwa too has no respect for rule of law and the freedoms and rights of others.
Ever since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies have waged a war of attrition on the people in their resolve to retain absolute political power at all costs. The regime has murdered over 30 000 Zimbabweans for political gain in its 42 years reign of terror.
“Like in the case of Zimbabwe which has endured more than two decades of illegal sanctions!” The sanctions were imposed on a select few Zanu PF leaders for the regime’s repeated failure to hold free and fair elections and many other human rights violations.
The country is gearing for the 2023 national elections and there is already evidence of blatant vote rigging, of voters being frog marched to attend Zanu PF rallies and of wanton violence including beating and cold-blooded murder of political opponents.
Zanu PF is set to blatantly rig the 2023 elections. And, sadly for the country, the corrupt and incompetent opposition will participate in the flawed and illegal elections to give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy.
The Western countries have imposed wide ranging economic sanctions of Russia and President Putin. It is time the West upgraded the sanctions imposed on Zanu PF leaders and add the sell-out opposition leaders to the list. The economic and political situation in Zimbabwe has reached crisis point, the nation is desperate for meaningful political change, for free and fair elections.
It is no surprise that Zimbabwe was one of the 24 nation who voted NO to the resolution to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. President Mnangagwa and President Putin have many things in common including their contempt for rule of law, freedom and human rights including the right to life!