Russia's defeat. UN send Putin a "strong signal"
2:55 PM EDT, October 10, 2023
Russia's defeat at the UN General Assembly. Putins regime did not get into the Human Rights Council. In Eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Albania received more votes.
"Russia just significantly lost another vote in the UN General Assembly - this time in elections to the UN Human Rights Council, to which it wanted to be elected despite the aggressive war it is waging; the vast majority of countries showed that there is no chance for this," - wrote on the X website, the Polish ambassador to the UN.
In a secret ballot, Bulgaria received 160 votes, while Albania received 123. Russia received 83 votes.
- UN member states sent a strong signal to the Russian authorities: there is no place in the Human Rights Council for a government responsible for countless war crimes and crimes against humanity - commented Louis Charbonneau from the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch.
Russia suspended after invasion
Russia was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council in April 2022, one and a half months after the invasion of Ukraine began. The same day, Russia's ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, announced that his country had decided to resign from the Council.
The tenure of the Geneva-based Council lasts 3 years, with 1/3 of its membership renewed every year. The allocation of mandates is based on a geographical key, according to which a certain number of countries must come from each region of the world.
On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly renewed the composition of the Council for the years 2024-2026, electing 15 new members. In addition to Bulgaria and Albania, those selected were: Burundi, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Malawi, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, France, the Netherlands, Brazil, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.
