US to seek Russia's suspension from Human Rights Council
The Hindu
The United States plans to seek a suspension of Russia from its seat on the U.N.’s top human rights body amid increasing signs that Russian forces may have committed war crimes in Ukraine
The United States plans to seek a suspension of Russia from its seat on the U.N.’s top human rights body amid increasing signs that Russian forces may have committed war crimes in Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Monday.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield made the call for Russia to be stripped of its seat in the Human Rights Council in the wake of reports over the weekend about violence against civilians in the town of Bucha, near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, after Russian forces pulled out. The reports have sparked a wave of outrage and condemnation against Russia.
“We believe that the members of the Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine, and we believe that Russia needs to be held accountable,” Ms Thomas-Greenfield said in a press conference in Romania’s capital of Bucharest after she visited neighboring Moldova a day earlier.
Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns around Kyiv that have been recaptured from Russian forces in recent days.
The U.S. official called Russia’s participation in the Human Rights Council a “farce” and said it hurts the body's credibility. She said she would go to the Security Council Tuesday morning on her return to New York to "address Russia’s actions firmly and directly.”
Any decision to suspend Russia would require a decision by the U.N. General Assembly in New York. In New York, General Assembly spokeswoman Paulina Kubiak said on Monday that no request for a meeting on the issue has yet been received.
Russia and the other four permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – Britain, China, France, and the United States – all currently have seats on the 47-member state rights council, which is based in Geneva. The United States rejoined the council this year.