US to seek Russia’s suspension from Human Rights Council

Apr 4, 2022, 8:15 AM | Updated: 9:48 pm

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The United States plans to seek a vote this week to suspend Russia from its seat on the U.N.’s top human rights body, pointing to increasing signs that Russian troops may have committed war crimes in Ukraine, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Monday.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the call for Russia to be stripped of its seat on 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,” Thomas-Greenfield said at a news conference in Romania’s capital, Bucharest.

She called Russia’s participation on the rights council a “farce” that “hurts the credibility of the council and the U.N. writ large” and is “simply wrong.”

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he spoke Monday with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres about events in Bucha and tweeted: “No place for Russia on the UN Human Rights Council.”

“Ukraine will use all available UN mechanisms to collect evidence and hold Russian war criminals to account,” Kuleba said.

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly in New York has the final say, and any resolution to strip Russia of its membership rights would require support from two-thirds of member countries that vote.

Thomas-Greenfield told NPR the U.S. plans to seek a vote “as soon as possible this week, and possibly as early as Thursday.”

She said her message was simple to the 140 assembly members who voted last month to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: “The images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us now to match our words with action.”

“We cannot let a member state that is subverting every principle we hold dear to continue to sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council,” she said.

The 47-member council is the U.N.’s premier human rights body, and the General Assembly decies which states hold the seats.

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 rights council, which the U.S. rejoined this year.

In New York, General Assembly spokeswoman Paulina Kubiak said Monday that no request for a meeting on the issue had yet been received.

Russia’s ambassador in Geneva shot back by calling the U.S. statement “(b)aseless, unfounded and purely emotional bravado that looks good on camera — just how the US likes it.”

“Washington exploits the Ukrainian crisis for its own benefit in an attempt either to exclude or suspend Russia from international organizations, including the HRC here in Geneva,” Gennady Gatilov said, in comments relayed by a Russian diplomatic mission spokesman.

The only country to have its membership rights stripped at the council was Libya in 2011, when upheaval in the North African country brought down longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi, said council spokesman Rolando Gomez. The council started work in 2006.

No permanent member of the security council has ever had its membership revoked from any U.N. body.

Referring to the General Assembly, Gatilov said the U.S. effort “is unlikely to be supported by the majority of its member states.”

Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians were found in Bucha and other towns around Kyiv that have been recaptured from Russian forces in recent days.

Thomas-Greenfield said she would go to the Security Council on Tuesday on her return to New York to “address Russia’s actions firmly and directly.”

She mentioned the U.S. plan during a bilateral meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, whose government she praised for its “extraordinary effort” in receiving hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine. More than 600,000 refugees have fled to safety in Romania since Russia launched its invasion.

Thomas-Greenfield also visited the Romanian capital’s main train station, where she met with humanitarian workers helping to receive refugees.

Her visit to Romania came a day after she met with leaders in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, where she announced that the U.S. will provide $50 million (45 million euros) “to help the Government of Moldova and its people cope with the impacts of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war.”

Moldova, a former Soviet republic with a population of around 2.6 million, has so far received around 400,000 refugees from war-torn Ukraine. The $50 million assistance is in addition to more than $30 million the U.S. has provided Moldova for its humanitarian efforts during the crisis.

___

Keaten reported from Geneva. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

(Facebook Photo/Superior Court of Arizona in Yavapai County)...
Associated Press

Arizona judge has cases reassigned following DUI arrest

The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that all cases currently assigned to a Yavapai County Superior Court judge recently arrested on suspicion of extreme DUI will be reassigned to other judges.
22 hours ago
Haitian migrant Gerson Solay, 28, carries his daughter, Bianca, as he and his family cross into Can...
Associated Press

US, Canada to end loophole that allows asylum-seekers to move between countries

President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a plan to close a loophole to an immigration agreement.
4 days ago
Expert skateboarder Di'Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and...
Associated Press

Indigenous skateboard art featured on new stamps unveiled at Phoenix skate park

The Postal Service unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard" stamps at a Phoenix skate park, featuring designs from Indigenous artists.
4 days ago
(Facebook Photo/City of San Luis, Arizona)...
Associated Press

San Luis authorities receive complaints about 911 calls going across border

Authorities in San Luis say they are receiving more complaints about 911 calls mistakenly going across the border.
10 days ago
(Pexels Photo)...
Associated Press

Daylight saving time begins in most of US this weekend

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
18 days ago
Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamo...
Associated Press

How the 4 abducted Americans in Mexico were located

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men and blindfolds.
18 days ago

Sponsored Articles

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...
Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.
(Photo by Michael Matthey/picture alliance via Getty Images)...
Cox Communications

Valley Boys & Girls Club uses esports to help kids make healthy choices

KTAR’s Community Spotlight focuses on the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley and the work to incorporate esports into children's lives.
...
Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.
US to seek Russia’s suspension from Human Rights Council