The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from its human rights body. The vote to remove Russia from the Human Rights Council comes several weeks after the country invaded Ukraine and just days after reports of a massacre of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, Ukraine.
The vote count was 93 in favour of the resolution, 24 against and 58 abstentions. “Russia is not only committing human rights violations, it is undermining international peace and security,” said Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s permanent representative to the UN prior to the vote.
The resolution to vote Russia out of the premier human rights body was initiated by the United States following theBucha killings.
Russia has vehemently denied the allegations, despite the mounting evidence. The resolution focused on “grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, particularly at the reports of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law by the Russian Federation, including gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights.” Read more: UN to vote on suspending Russia from human rights council over Bucha killings The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a destabilizing force globally and not simply limited to one country, argued Kyslytsya.