US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield has called for Russia to remove its seat on the 47-member Human Rights Council following videos and photos of streets in the city of Buchah strewn with civilian bodies.  The deaths have sparked global outrage and calls for tougher sanctions on Russia, which has vehemently denied that its troops are responsible.
“We believe that members of the Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine and we believe that Russia should be held accountable,” Thomas Greenfield said on Monday.  “Russia’s participation in the Human Rights Council is a hoax.”
General Assembly spokeswoman Paulina Kubiak said the extraordinary session of the assembly on Ukraine would continue on Thursday morning, when a resolution “on the suspension of participation in the Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation” would be put to a vote.
While the Human Rights Council is based in Geneva, its members are elected by the General Assembly of 193 nations for a three-year term.  The March 2006 resolution established by the rights council says the assembly could suspend the rights of a member of a country “which commits blatant and systematic human rights violations”.
The short resolution to be voted on expresses “grave concern about the ongoing human rights crisis and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, in particular the reports of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including violations and human rights violations “.
The approval would require a two-thirds majority of the members of the assembly who vote “yes” or “no”, while the abstentions are not counted in the calculation.
The General Assembly voted 140-5, with 38 abstentions, on March 24, a resolution that blames Russia for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and calls for an immediate ceasefire and protection for millions of people and critical homes, schools and hospitals. for their survival.
The vote was almost exactly the same as the March 2 resolution adopted by the assembly, calling for an immediate ceasefire by Russia, the withdrawal of all its forces and the protection of all civilians.  This vote was 141-5 and 35 abstentions.
Thomas Greenfield urged the 140 members who voted in favor of the two resolutions to support Russia’s suspension by the Human Rights Council.
“The picture is simple,” she said.
“We can not allow a Member State that overthrows every authority we love to continue to participate in the UN Human Rights Council,” he said.
Supporters of the resolution were optimistic about its adoption, though not necessarily with the support of 140 countries.
Russia has called on an unspecified number of countries to vote “no”, saying that abstaining or not voting would be considered a hostile act and would affect bilateral relations.
In a so-called “non-paper” received by the Associated Press, Russia said that its attempt to oust it from the Human Rights Council is political and is supported by countries that want to maintain their dominance and control over the world.
These nations want to continue “the policy of neo-colonial human rights” in international relations, he said, adding that Russia’s priority is to promote and defend human rights, including multilateralism in the Human Rights Council.
Russia’s ambassador to Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, described the US action as “baseless and purely emotional, which looks good on camera – just as the US likes it”.
“Washington is taking advantage of the Ukrainian crisis for its own benefit in an effort to either exclude or suspend Russia from international organizations,” Gatilov was quoted as saying by a spokesman for the Russian diplomatic mission.
Russia and the other four permanent members of the veto-wielding UN Security Council – Britain, China, France and the United States – all currently hold seats on the Human Rights Council, to which the United States rejoined this year.
The only country in which council members were stripped of their membership was Libya in 2011, when unrest in the North African country ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi, council spokesman Rolando Gomez said.
No permanent member of the Security Council has ever had his membership revoked by any UN body.
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