Nigeria on Thursday abstained in a vote by the United Nations’ General Assembly to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
The UN General Assembly voted 93 Yes, 24 No, and 58 Absentia, to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
Nigeria, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Ghana, South Africa and many others abstained from voting. China, Belarus, Dem. Rep of Korea, Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe and some other nations voted against the resolution.
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The United States, EU Countries, Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Japan and most other allies voted yes to the resolution.
Fig 1: UN Vote on Resolution at Eleventh Emergency Special Session
The draft resolution titled “Suspension of the rights of membership of the Russian Federation in the Human Rights Council” (document A/ES-11/L.4), was introduced by Sergiy Kyslytsya of Ukraine.
Invoking the case of Rwanda he told delegates that they have a chance to prove that they are no indifferent bystanders.
“All you need to do is to press the ‘Yes’ button,” he said. “On the other hand, pressing ‘No’ means pulling a trigger and means a red dot on the screen. Red as the blood of the innocent lives lost. And this image of the red bloody dots on this screen will stay with you — and all of us — as long as memory does not fail us. Think about it. Thank you”.
The representative of the Russian Federation said the draft resolution under consideration has no relationship to the actual human rights situation on the ground, adding that it is an attempt by the United States to maintain its dominant position and an attempt at human rights colonialism in international relations. It is also an attempt to move those who wish to conduct an independent foreign policy to the periphery of international relations.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield had called for Russia to be removed from the 47-nation body on Monday, calling its participation a “farce,” after videos and photos emerged from the town of Bucha, near Kiev, showing the dead bodies of what appeared to be civilians. Ukraine and the US accused Russia of conducting a massacre, a charge that Moscow has vehemently denied.
“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 on Monday.
In a tweet after the vote, Ukraine Foreign Minister responded with a tweet;
Russia’s rights of membership in the UN Human Rights Council has just been suspended. War criminals have no place in UN bodies aimed at protecting human rights. Grateful to all member states which supported the relevant UNGA resolution and chose the right side of history.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 7, 2022
Poland, who had been a champion of tough actions against Russia, also welcomed the suspension. Its foreign ministry tweeted;
Poland welcomes with appreciation UNGA resolution suspending Russia’s membership in the @UN_HRC due to gross and systematic violations committed by 🇷🇺 during its aggression against Ukraine.
This is the motion 🇵🇱 called for since the very beginning of 🇷🇺 invasion against Ukraine.
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) April 7, 2022
Back in June 2018, during the presidency of Donald Trump, the US itself resigned from the Human Rights Council itself, denouncing many of its members as “authoritarian governments” with “abhorrent human rights records.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the time that Washington “will not take lectures from hypocritical bodies and institutions, as America… selflessly gives its blood and treasure to help the defenseless.” The Joe Biden administration returned to the UN body in October 2021.
The only other country ever to be expelled from the UN Human Rights Council was Libya, in 2011, as NATO bombed the North African country to help militants overthrow the government of Muammar Gaddafi.
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are elected by the UN General Assembly. The Human Rights Council replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 by resolution 60/251. Its first session took place from 19 to 30 June 2006. One year later, the Council adopted its “Institution-building package” to guide its work and set up its procedures and mechanisms.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
