Ukraine war: UN General Assembly suspends Russia from top human rights body
- China opposed the move to unseat Russia from the Human Rights Council after atrocities were uncovered in Bucha; the resolution passed 93-24 with 58 abstentions
- Russia is the second country, after Libya, to have its membership rights stripped at the Human Rights Council
A US-led effort to unseat Russia from the UN Human Rights Council passed on Thursday by a greater than two-thirds majority after the discovery of hundreds of civilians’ bodies following Russia’s withdrawal from the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
The vote in the UN General Assembly, which oversees the 47-member council based in Geneva, was 93 in favour and 24 opposed, including China, with 58 abstentions. Under the council’s 2006 founding documents, a member can be suspended when it “commits gross and systematic violations of human rights”.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield led the call to exclude Russia after photos, videos and satellite imagery showed corpses lying in the Ukrainian town of Bucha and nearby communities, eliciting a global outcry and calls for tougher sanctions on Russia. Moscow has denied responsibility, claiming that the Ukrainians themselves were responsible.
“We have collectively sent a clear message that Russia will be held accountable,” Thomas-Greenfield said on Thursday. Earlier in the week she had called Russia’s presence on the Human Rights Council “a farce”.
03:11
Russian troops accused of war crimes after mass graves found in Bucha near Ukrainian capital
The latest move heaping diplomatic pressure on Moscow follows two UN General Assembly votes supported by some 140 nations that condemned the war.