Pro-Russia bias is tainting SA’s image

Cluster munitions, particularly when used against soft-skinned targets – like living, breathing, human beings – are a particularly inhuman way of waging war.

A nation which uses them against civilians should not expect to retain its seat at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Not in the eyes of South Africa, though.

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Even as the body count from an alleged Russian rocket-delivered cluster bomb attack on a train station in Eastern Ukraine was mounting on Friday – Moscow denied responsibility – our foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, was defending South Africa’s decision to abstain from the UN vote which saw Russia’s suspension from the Human Rights Council.

Pandor tried, yet again, to play the “non-aligned” game, claiming that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) member countries should not be involved in trying to negotiate peace and that South Africa was available as a mediator.

The only problem with that is, so far, our ANC government has shown its pro-Moscow bias clearly.

While President Cyril Ramaphosa made a big public show of phoning Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he has made no such attempts to open communication with the Ukrainians.

This all means that South Africa’s hard-won reputation as a bastion of human rights and our experience as peacemakers is degrading right in front of our eyes.

READ MORE: Why South Africa abstained from Ukraine vote at UN General Assembly

While the issues behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine are not as clear-cut as many on both sides would like to make out, the bottom line is that the “special military operation”, as Putin characterises it, is a clear violation of international law.

There have been credible reports of atrocities against civilians by Russia… surely, also, a clear violation of any human rights standards.

Pandor is correct to point out the double standards of the West when it comes to Israel, for example.

But the “whataboutism” will not help salvage our image as an honest broker.