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Bucharest: In view of reports claiming Russian troops killed dozens of civilians in the town of Bucha, the United States will ask the United Nations General Assembly to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, news agency Reuters quoted the US ambassador to the United Nations saying on Monday. It takes the support of the two-third majority in the 193-member assembly in New York to suspend a state for persistently committing gross and systematic violations of human rights.
“Russia’s participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was quoted by Reuters as saying on a visit to Romania.
“And it is wrong, which is why we believe it is time the UN General Assembly vote to remove them,” Thomas-Greenfield said, adding that she wants to have the vote this week.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, the Assembly has adopted two resolutions denouncing Russia with 140 votes in favour. Moscow, on the other hand, claims it is carrying out a “special operation” to demilitarise Ukraine.
“My message to those 140 countries who have courageously stood together is: the images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us to now match our words with action,” Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on a visit to Romania.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva Gennady Gatilov said that such an initiative would be unlikely to enjoy majority support. “Washington exploits the Ukraine crisis for its own benefit in an attempt either to exclude or suspend Russia from international organisations, including the Human Rights Council here in Geneva,” Gatilov was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Russia is in its second year of a three-year term on the 47-member Human Rights Council. Though the cannot make legally binding decisions but its decisions send important political messages. It can also authorise investigations.
Last month, UN’s council opened an investigation into allegations of rights violations, including possible war crimes, in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion. Thirty-two members voted in favour of the resolution, brought by Ukraine. Russia and Eritrea voted against while 13, including China, abstained.
Meanwhile, Bucha’s deputy mayor claimed that around 50 bodies found after Russian forces withdrew were the victims of extra-judicial killings by Russian troops. However, it is not yet clear who was responsible for killing those Bucha residents.
The United States, on the other hand, has maintained war crimes have been committed in Ukraine and US experts were gathering evidence to prove it.
Earlier today, President Joe Biden on Monday called for a war crimes trial against Russia President Vladimir Putin and said he’d seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine. “You saw what happened in Bucha,” Biden said. He added that Putin “is a war criminal.”
Biden’s comments to reporters came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha, one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found. Zelenskyy called the Russian actions “genocide” and called for the West to apply tougher sanctions against Russia.
The General Assembly has previously suspended a country from the council. In March 2011, it unanimously suspended Libya because of violence against protesters by forces loyal to then leader Muammar Gaddafi.
