NEW YORK – The United States described the decision to remove Russia from the UN Human Rights Council as important and historic. Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfield, said that with this decision, the international community sent a strong message to Russia.
The United Nations General Assembly expelled Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, of which it is one of 47 members, due to human rights violations in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. 172 out of 193 member states of the UN participated in the voting. While 93 countries, including Turkey, voted “Yes”, 24 countries voted “No”, 55 countries abstained.
The United States evaluated the decision taken at the UN General Assembly as “historical, important and a strong message to Russia from all over the world”.
Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Gennady Kuzman, in his speech after the vote, evaluated the decision to suspend Russia’s membership in the Human Rights Council as an illegitimate and deliberate political step.
Russia: “We have decided to leave the council before the vote”
Kuzman announced that Russia has already taken a decision today to terminate or suspend its membership in the UN Human Rights Council before the vote.
Russian Representative Kuzman said, “Russia has always viewed the Human Rights Council as an important component of the universal system of promoting and protecting human rights, which aims to contribute to the development of constructive, international intergovernmental dialogue on key issues of its rights-related agenda. “The council is actually monopolized by a group of states that use itself for short-term purposes. Russia is sincerely committed to promoting and protecting human rights. Our decision to cease our membership of the UN Human Rights Council before the end of our mandate does not mean that we will not fulfill our international obligations in the field of human rights.”
British Representative James Roscoe, who took the floor after Russia announced that it was leaving at the Human Rights Council before the vote to be held at the UN General Assembly, said, “The decision to leave before the vote you have announced is similar to the statement of a person who was fired, ‘I was not fired, I resigned’.”
USA: “An important and historic decision”
Permanent Representative of the USA to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield evaluated the decision taken at the general assembly as an important and historical decision. Stating that countries around the world voted to suspend Russia’s membership from the UN Human Rights Council due to its systematic human rights violations, Thomas Greenfield said, “We sent a very strong message that the suffering of victims and survivors will not be ignored. “Despite all the disinformation attempts, we all saw those horrible images from Buça and other cities. We saw lifeless bodies lying on the streets. We saw people who were executed with their hands tied behind their backs, mass graves, burned bodies,” he said.
“We will not be able to bring back the dead,” said US Representative Thomas Greenfield, stating that one day Ukraine’s infrastructure will be rebuilt, but there will be no way to rebuild the lives that Russia has destroyed.
Stating that the international community is taking a common step in the right direction, Thomas Greenfield said, “We have ensured that a persistent and dreadful human rights violator is not allowed to occupy a leadership position on human rights at the UN. “We will continue to hold Russia responsible for this unjust, unreasonable war and to do everything we can to stand by the Ukrainian people,” he said.
France: “The time has come for this horror to end”
France’s Permanent Representative to the UN Nicolas De Riviere said that since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia has blatantly violated fundamental rights and international law.
Noting that Russia bombed civilians and civilian facilities, including schools and hospitals, French Representative Riviere said, “The images in Bucha and other towns in the north of Ukraine are unbearable brutality. This atrocity may constitute war crimes. The Russian army denied and continues to deny the humanity of the Ukrainians. It’s time for this horror to end. It’s time to restore the Ukrainians their rights and dignity. This assembly passed the resolution on the humanitarian situation by a large majority on March 24. Russia should be held responsible for clear and systematic violations. “We call on Russia once again to use its reason and stop this war,” he said.
UK: “Decision is a victory for human rights”
The British Representative, James Roscoe, said that everyone now sees the horrific images from Bucha and other cities of deliberately killed civilians in areas where Russian forces have recently withdrawn.
Roscoe noted that he has no doubts that Russia has grossly and systematically violated human rights in order to be expelled from the Human Rights Council.
Stating that he welcomes the UN General Assembly’s decision that Russia has no place in the Human Rights Council, Roscoe said, “Today’s vote is a message to Putin that those who stand by or speak for him must stop killing innocent civilians and end this war. . “Today’s vote is a victory for human rights, which upholds the credibility of the Human Rights Council and the principles of the UN Charter.”