U.N. General Assembly Tosses Russia From U.N. Human Rights Council

April 7, 2022

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Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room of the Palace of Nations, Geneva (Switzerland). It is the meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Image by Ludovic Courtès

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The United Nations General Assembly set a precedent today suspending the first permanent member of the U.N. Security Council by revoking Russia’s membership on The United Nations Human Rights Council

The final vote result was 93 in favor, 24 against and 58 abstentions.

The resolution voted upon states that the U.N. General Assembly may "suspend the rights of membership in the Human Rights Council of a member of the Council that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights."

The resolution added that the council is gravely concerned about the "gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights" and "violations of international humanitarian law" committed by Russia during its more than month-long invasion of Ukraine.

"Russia should not have a position of authority in a body whose purpose – whose very purpose – is to promote respect for human rights. Not only is it the height of hypocrisy -– it is dangerous," said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda. Thomas-Greenfield. "Every day, we see more and more how little Russia respects human rights.”

"Now the world has come to a crucial juncture. We witness that our liner is going through treacherous fog towards deadly icebergs. It might seem that we should have named it the Titanic instead of the Human Rights Council ... We need to take an action today to save the council from sinking," Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya stated.

The deputy Russian ambassador called the resolution "a dangerous precedent."

"Today is not the time nor the place for theatrics, or these kinds of extremely theatrical performances like the one presented by Ukraine. In fact the draft resolution we are considering today has no relationship to the actual human rights situation on the ground," he said.

The only other sitting member of the Human Rights Council to have its membership suspended was Libya in 2011, when forces loyal to Muammar al-Gaddafi used violence against anti-government protesters.

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Author

Christine Dolan

Christine Dolan is a seasoned Investigative Journalist, television producer, author, and photographer. She is Co-Founder of American Conversations whose format focuses on in-depth analysis of critical issues about “the story behind the headlines.”