Last April, UN member states voted to expel Russia from the Human Rights Council after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
But now they hope to be welcomed back in, when a new vote is to be held on Tuesday next week, according to the New York Times.
Several countries critical of the West
Last time, only 24 of the 193 member states voted against the proposal, but this time, according to the newspaper, the result is not as easy to predict.
The reason for this is that Russia will be pitted against Albania and Bulgaria for two seats reserved for countries in Eastern Europe, and that they have recently received support from countries critical of what they call a “Western hegemony”.
North Korea, Eritrea, Syria, China and Belarus were among those who stood on Russia’s side last year, and which all indications indicate will continue to give the country their support.
But other countries can also conceivably join after having recently experienced an increasing focus on the war in Ukraine, at the same time that they themselves are significantly more affected by conflicts in their immediate areas.
“Clearly inappropriate”
However, many are critical of Russia’s appeal. Just the other day, the UN itself stated in a report that at least 10,000 civilians have died since the invasion of Ukraine began, over 50 people were killed in an attack on the village of Hroza yesterday, and both torture of prisoners of war and political persecution in Russia have emerged.
Several human rights organizations therefore believe that rejoining would damage the Council’s credibility in its mission to safeguard the observance of human rights in the world.
“Russia is clearly unsuitable for membership”, among others Felix Gaer, head of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, is said to have written in a letter, where he also refers to information about Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
But the risk is at the same time there, and may be greater than many think, says Marc Limon, head of the research institute Universal Rights Group.
– There is a real risk that the West and its allies sleepily enter a situation where Russia can be chosen. It would be disastrous for the Human Rights Council, he told the New York Times.