The General Assembly of the United Nations Organization (UN) suspended Russia from the Human Rights Council on Thursday, with 93 votes in favor, 24 against and 58 abstentions, Uruguay being one of the positive voters.
The decision was adopted in a resolution in which the General Assembly “expresses grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, in particular at reports of human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. by the Russian Federation,” the UN said in a statement posted on its website.
These violations include “systematic human rights abuses,” the agency added.
In order to expel the Russian State, statements by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, were taken into account, who based herself on the conclusions of experts from the Observation Mission in Ukraine carried out on March 26, 2022. .
“The resolution, co-sponsored by 58 states, recalls that the General Assembly has the right to suspend the membership of the Human Rights Council of a country that commits serious and systematic violations of human rights,” the UN statement added.
It is the second time in history that the global body has made this extraordinary decision. The first time was in 2011 with Libya.
Ukraine says Russia poses as a victim
Before the vote, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, took the floor to say that action should be taken “to prevent the Human Rights Council from collapsing.”
The diplomat added that both in Bucha and in other cities civilians have been killed, tortured and displaced at the hands of Russian soldiers, something that Russia has described as “montage” and “staging”.
Before the vote, all the representatives of the member states received a note from Russia in which it said that the “resolution is a way to preserve the domination and total control of human rights and neo-colonialism of international relations.”
“We have heard on many occasions this perverse logic of the aggressor presenting himself as a victim,” added Kyslytsya.
The Russian representative then took the floor and said that it was not “the moment for theater” referring to the Ukrainian’s intervention.
From the Latin American region, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay voted in favor of the resolution. Voted against: Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua. Abstained: Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico. For its part, Venezuela could not vote because due to the non-payment of its quotas it does not have the right.
The brief resolution notes that the General Assembly will review its decision “when appropriate.”
