RUSSIA has been kicked off the United Nation’s Human Rights Council after reports of atrocities committed during its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly vote saw 93 nations in favour, 24 against, and 58 abstentions. A two-thirds majority was required to remove Russia from the human rights body, and abstentions do not count.
As such, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has had its membership on the council suspended.
In a draft of the resolution, the General Assembly said it would “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 move was initiated by the US in response to the discovery of hundreds of bodies after Russian troops withdrew from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, sparking calls for its forces to be tried for war crimes.
US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the call for Russia to be stripped of its seat on the 47-member council in the wake of videos and photos of streets in the town of Bucha strewn with the corpses of what appeared to be civilians.
The videos and reporting from the town have sparked global revulsion and calls for tougher sanctions on Russia, which has vehemently denied responsibility.
“We believe that the members of the Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine, and we believe that Russia needs to be held accountable,” Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday.
“Russia’s participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce.”
While the Human Rights Council is based in Geneva, its members are elected by the 193-nation General Assembly for three-year terms.
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Speaking ahead of the vote, the deputy Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Gennady Kuzmin, said his country had "consistently defended the principle of cooperation based on mutual respect and equal status as one of the main foundations of the human rights architecture".
Kuzmin said his country rejected "the untruthful allegations against us based on staged events and widely circulated fakes".
Reuters reported that Russia had warned countries that a yes vote or abstention would be viewed as an "unfriendly gesture" with consequences for relations.
The General Assembly voted 140-5 with 38 abstentions on March 24 on a resolution blaming Russia for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and urging an immediate cease-fire and protection for millions of civilians and the homes, schools and hospitals critical to their survival.
The vote was almost exactly the same as for the March 2 resolution the assembly adopted demanding an immediate Russian ceasefire, withdrawal of all its forces and protection for all civilians. That vote was 141-5 with 35 abstentions.
Russia is now the only one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, and the US — not to have a seat on the Human Rights Council, which the US rejoined this year.
The only country to have its membership rights stripped at the council was Libya in 2011, when upheaval in the North African country brought down longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, said council spokesman Rolando Gomez.
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