SA Joins China, Syria, Zimbabwe to Vote Against UN Human Rights Bill

NEW YORK – South Africa joined 13 other countries including North Korea, Sudan, Syria, China, Russia and Zimbabwe on Wednesday to vote against adopting the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, according to news reports.

The declaration recognises the extreme importance and legitimacy of human-rights activity, and those who carry it out. Fourteen countries voted against the bill in the UN General Assembly and 40 abstained.

Rwanda was the one African country to vote for the resolution, against “the African bloc”, one news report said.

Leading the no vote, China and Russia were reportedly worried about the possibility that Western nations may use human rights as a pretext to intervene in the domestic affairs of developing countries. They fear that by giving special rights to human rights defenders they could weaken their sovereignty, reports said.

Some argued that South Africa’s decision to go against the resolution was another insult to human rights – and a step backward internationally – after the government in June allowed the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir to leave an African Union summit in South Africa despite a High Court rule to keep him in the country pending a ruling by the court.