Gambia abstains at UN Russia suspension vote

The Gambia is among 58 members of the UN who abstained in yesterday’s’ vote to suspend Russia from UN human rights commission. The United Nations General Assembly yesterday suspended Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council over reports of “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” in Ukraine, prompting Moscow to announce it was quitting the body.
The U.S.-led push garnered 93 votes in favor, while 24 countries voted no and 58 countries abstained. A two-thirds majority of voting members in the 193-member General Assembly in New York – abstentions do not count – was needed to suspend Russia from the 47-member Geneva-based Human Rights Council. The Gambia, Senegal and most other Africa countries are among the 58 that abstained.