The UN told which country could replace Russia in the Human Rights Council/Getty Images
On May 10, the UN General Assembly will vote for the country that will replace Russia in the Human Rights Council, from which the aggressor country was expelled due to the atrocities of Russian troops in Ukraine.
Seats on the UN Human Rights Council are divided among regional groups. Therefore, the country replacing Russia should come from an Eastern European country.
Which country can take the place of Russia
On April 28, Assembly spokeswoman Paulina Kubiak said, that the only candidate for a seat on the Human Rights Council is the Czech Republic. Therefore, she has every chance to take the place of Russia if there are no other candidates.
Russia was expelled from the Council: how it was
On April 7, 2022, the UN General Assembly suspended Russia's membership in the Human Rights Council due to the brutal and systematic violation of human rights by Russian soldiers after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 93 countries voted for the exclusion of the aggressor country from the Council, and 24 voted against.
Already after the General Assembly expelled Russia, Gennady Kuzmin, deputy ambassador of the aggressor country, said that allegedly it was Russia that withdrew from the Council for Rights before the vote.
Not only the Human Rights Council: where else did they kick Russia out of?
- Since February 24, Russia has lost its seat on a number of UN bodies, including: the executive boards of UN Women, UNICEF, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.
- Also this week, the country the aggressor was expelled from the World Tourism Organization.
- But at the same time, Russia continues to be part of the UN Security Council and even has the right to veto. Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Serhiy Kyslytsya criticizes the UN Security Council for the dubious presence of an aggressor country in the composition. Thus, all draft resolutions in the UN Security Council on Russia's aggression against Ukraine are blocked precisely because the country that invaded the territory of another state imposes a veto.
- On April 5, President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the UN Security Council and stressed that the world institution, which was supposed to ensure peace, cannot work effectively. In particular, through Russia, which turns its right of veto into a “right of death”.
