Am I the only one to see a disturbing continuity? The BRICS group invited six new members to join the party – apparently to counter current US dominance – but has anyone thought about their rogue’s gallery choice of invitees?
Iran’s Islamic Republic is an oppressive theocracy where freedoms of assembly and expression are severely restricted, and Human Rights Watch documented security forces using shotguns against peaceful protesters.
In Saudi Arabia, national decisions are based on consultation with the King and the authoritarian regime is consistently ranked among the “worst of the worst” in Freedom House’s annual political and civil rights survey.
The UAE is described as a “tribal autocracy” where the seven constituent monarchies are led by tribal rulers controlling undemocratically elected institutions, without any formal commitment to free speech.
In Ethiopia, the 2021 parliamentary and regional elections resulted in the killings of civilians, rape, other forms of gender-based violence, forced displacement, and looting and destruction of property.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, eliminates anyone who talks out of turn or stands in his way. The citizens of Ukraine are currently top of his list, but at home, he’s ordered the murders of the liberal politician Sergei Yushenkov, investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, human rights advocate Stanislav Markelov, opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, exiled Alexander Litvinenko, and Journalist Nikolay Andrushchenko, to name just a few.
Xi Jinping in China doesn’t recognise dissent. Freely elected national leaders don’t exist, political opposition is suppressed, religious activity is controlled, and civil rights are curtailed. And, get this! In Tanzania, China has just opened a leadership school for African autocrats in training!
So, maybe there is a ray of hope in Brazil’s newly elected leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but how long will his predecessor’s cronies allow him to last? Jair Bolsonaro ticked every box in the populist list of dirty tricks: suppression of dissent, strangled media and complete disregard for the environment and the land belonging to indigenous populations.
So where is Cyril Rhamaposa in all this? Why is he cosying up to a bunch of outcasts? Is he just a sad Billy-no-mates looking for friends? Or has he got a hidden agenda we need to know about? And finally, Cyril, who’s next on the list? North Korea’s Kim Jong Un?
