The United Nations General Assembly voted on Thursday to remove Russia from its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council.
In a 93-24 vote, which also saw 58 abstentions, Russia was removed from its position of authority on the council that investigates human rights abuses across the world.
Curiously, the number of nations that voted to remove Russia from the council was lower than the number of nations that voted in March to officially call on Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine and to withdraw all troops and military personnel from the country. Roughly half of the 193 member nations supported today’s decision, but more than half also voted against the measure or abstained.
Russia is now the second country to be removed from the Human Rights Council. Libya made history in the 16-year-old council when it was removed from its seat.
U.S. and U.K. Officials Pushed for Russia’s Removal
The decision to remove Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council was pushed heavily by United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who announced on Monday that she would seek to remove Russia from the council and called the country’s participation a “farce.”
During a press conference in Bucharest, Romania, Thomas-Greenfield said that under no circumstances should Russia be in a position of authority on the council and that she expected the council had the votes to remove Russia.
“It’s more than symbolic, and it does have force because it continues what we have started, that is to isolate Russia and call them out for what they are doing,” Thomas-Greenfield said in an interview soon after the press conference. “They have a narrative that what they are doing is normal. This is not normal. It is not acceptable, and they will hear from the entire world that we will not continue to allow their misinformation, their propaganda, to be used on a U.N. platform.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss made the same call on Monday, calling on Russia to be suspended from the council after the “heinous butchery” seen in Bucha, Ukraine.
Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson also condemned the attacks in Bucha, which saw civilians butchered in the streets and some women and girls reportedly tortured by Russian troops. Johnson described the discovery of mass graves in satellite images of the region as “sickening” and said that the United Kingdom would “not stand by whilst this indiscriminate and unforgivable slaughter takes place.”
Truss also said that, given the strong evidence of war crimes committed by Russian troops, the country “must be suspended” from the Human Rights Council.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
