An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the Ukraine crisis, in New York, February 21, 2022. PHOTO | AFP
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania was among 35 countries that abstained from Wednesday’s United Nations vote to
condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.In a special session of the UN General Assembly, 141 of the 193 member states voted for the resolution, 35 abstained, and five voted against.
The only countries to vote in support of Moscow were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria. Long-standing allies Cuba and Nicaragua joined other countries, including China, in abstaining.
Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan were the East African Community member states which abstained, with Kenya and Rwanda voting in favour of the resolution.
Other African countries that opted for neutrality were South Africa, Sudan, Senegal, Mali, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Algeria, Congo and Zimbabwe. The Democratic Republic of Congo voted for the resolution.
Tanzania’s decision to abstain from the vote prompted debate on social media and other forums, with the big question being why the country took the decision despite its history of siding with “the oppressed” over the years.
Contacted for comment, Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation permanent secretary Joseph Sokoine told The Citizen yesterday that the ministry would issue a statement later.
“We are aware of the matter, and will respond in due course,” he said.
However, Tanzania’s abstention was seen in some quarters as a covert act of siding with the “aggressor”
Some of those who added their voices to debate on various social media platforms said Tanzania was known for its steadfast position on the sovereignty and independence of other nations.
They recalled how the country openly opposed Portuguese colonialism in Mozambique and Angola and apartheid in South Africa, and the role it played in Namibia’s liberation.
An expert in diplomatic affairs, Dr Magembe Mnkondya, told The Citizen that Tanzania’s decision to abstain had come as a surprise to him.
“We should have stood by our record, and voted against what Russia is doing to the people of Ukraine, but perhaps there are concrete reasons as to why we decided not to take sides,” he said in a telephone interview.
A veteran diplomat, Prof Abdallah Safari, said he could not comment on Tanzania’s decision, but lashed out at the UN’s “indifference” to human rights abuses elsewhere.
“I can’t say anything concerning our country’s decision, but it is a fact that there is a great deal of hypocrisy on the part of world leaders. While thousands have been dying in Gaza, nobody has bothered to demand a UN vote, not even Ukraine. When Iraq, Palestine and other countries faced similar challenges, what was done?” he queried.
However, he asked the government to explain Tanzania’s abstention.
A Facebook user going by the name Dr Kimaro Meshack commended the government “for playing it safe”.
“I commend our country because there is wider national interest than just voting at the UN. Ukraine has the right to be heard, but Russia also has the right to be heard. Both countries have economic significance to Tanzania,” he wrote.
He added that countries that have either voted against the resolution or abstained have compelling reasons for doing so, and their decisions should be respected.
According to latest UN statistics, at least 874,000 people have fled since Russia invaded the country last Thursday.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that “demands” Russia “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow’s invasion by a vast majority of the world’s nations.
After more than two days of extraordinary debate, which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 United Nations member states voted for the non-binding resolution.
“The world is rejecting Russia’s lies,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement later Wednesday.
“Russia is responsible for the devastating abuses of human rights and the international humanitarian crisis that we are watching unfold in Ukraine in real time.”
The resolution “deplores” the invasion of Ukraine “in the strongest terms” and condemns President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.
The vote had been touted by diplomats as a bellwether of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise, and came as Putin’s forces bear down on Kyiv while terrified Ukrainians flee.
“They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist,” Ukraine’s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of the vote.
“It’s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide.”
Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has pleaded “self-defence” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries who accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force to resolve a crisis. The European Union’s ambassador to the UN Olof Skoog said the vote was “not just about Ukraine.”
“It is about defending an international order based on rules we all have signed up to,” he said in a statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the General Assembly’s message was “loud and clear.”
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