African countries should be closer to Russia, it is thanks to Moscow that Africa's voice is heard in the UN Security Council, said Uganda's Human Rights Commissioner Mariam Fauzat Wangadia on Thursday.
According to the official, the global challenges the region faces today require small countries like Uganda, as well as all African countries in general to be very close to Russia.
Russia has an advantage that African countries don't have, it is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Despite the fact that the African region has no membership on this council, "the voice of Africa is heard through Russia" in the UN Security Council, she said at the signing ceremony of a memorandum on cooperation with Russia in the field of human rights protection.
The Ugandan representative pointed out that it is the Russian side, which has the right of veto in the UN Security Council, that can prevent the threat of interference by other members in the affairs of sovereign states.
"Human rights have recently been shamelessly used as a weapon against other countries. We always have confidence that Russia can prevent the decision of armed intervention under the pretext of protecting human rights in other states," the commissioner said.
The official made her statements at the Human Rights House in Moscow on Thursday. The venue hosted the Russian human rights commissioner and the ombudsmen of Venezuela, Mali, Namibia, Nicaragua, Uganda and the Central African Republic. The officials signed Memorandum of Understanding, aimed at developing closer relations between the parties in the field of human rights protection.