China and Russia were on the "wrong side of history" by vetoing a UN Security Council resolution that would have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government, the US State Department said Monday, the dpa reported.
The measure, designed to punish the Mugabe regime for its violent crackdown of opposition ahead of last month's presidential run-off election, failed during a Security Council session Friday in New York.
"Countries who voted against it were on the wrong side of history," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Nine countries voted in favour of the resolution, including its sponsors: Britain, France and the United States. It would have passed on the 15-nation council had it not been for the vetoes.
Security forces under Mugabe's government beat and arrested supporters of opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai in the weeks leading up to the June 27 vote. Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe in the first round on March 27 but not enough for an outright victory.
Tsvangirai dropped out of the race one week before the vote, saying he feared for his life. Mugabe easily won the election labelled as a "sham" by the United States and European Union.