The UN General Assembly has voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council

The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council over its alleged atrocities in Ukraine.

The General Assembly voted 93 in favor, 24 against and 58 abstentions to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council because of its “grave and systematic violations of human rights” and violations of international law against Ukraine. China voted against it.

Resolutions must be passed by a two-thirds majority, and abstentions do not count.
“To suspend a country from the U.N. Human Rights Council is, in our view, a rare and unusual action,” Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador Sergei Kislitskya said before the vote.

“However, Russia’s actions have gone beyond normal — Russia has not only violated human rights, it has shaken the foundations of international peace and security.”

The geneva-based council has 47 members elected by secret ballot by the General Assembly. Russia is currently a member of the Human Rights Council whose three-year term is set to expire on December 31, 2023.

Kislitzya noted that April 7 is the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. He said those massacres occurred largely because of a lack of action by the international community and the failure of the United Nations to respond to alarm calls from the ground.

The Ukrainian envoys said: “In these days, a grievance and carrying thousands of Ukraine by Russian invaders to slay their tragedy, Ukraine and Rwanda stand together, and calls for reiterate our commitment, never forget, never happen again, allowing genocide that genocide is the result of the international community indifference.”

In a video address to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky warned against the council’s failure to act to stop Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. He called for Moscow to be held accountable for its crimes in Ukraine.

The United States led the effort to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, a resolution that was co-sponsored by more than 60 countries.

“Countries that commit gross and systematic violations of human rights should not sit in a body whose job is to protect those rights,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels. “Today a wrong has been righted.”