America and Britain are among the stalwarts that have started a pushback campaign against Russia’s standing at the United Nations, where it still punches way above its weight among the world’s superpowers. Following the widespread release of a credible set of war images from a suburb of Kiev, America announced today it would seek the ouster of Russia from the Geneva-based body charged with monitoring human rights violations around the globe. Separately, Britain rejected Moscow’s demand for a Security Council meeting this morning on what Russian officials said was Ukrainian “criminal provocation” — the dissemination of “staged” images from Bucha. By custom all Council members can gather the group, but Britain, which assumed the council’s presidency for April, argued that because a session on Ukraine was pre-scheduled for tomorrow, it was rejecting Russia’s call for a separate meeting. In response, the Russian envoy at the UN, Vasilly Nebenzya, scheduled a press conference for later this afternoon. Russia has long used the UN, and especially the Security Council — where it is one of five permanent members with a veto — as a stage to project global power. Despite its economic weakness, Russia was able to use its relative power within the UN to relive the past, when the Soviets were one of the world’s two superpowers. Moscow’s Ukraine campaign, however, is starting to erode that power. In the next few days the General Assembly is expected to meet at Turtle Bay in New York for a vote on a resolution to eject Russia from the Human Rights Council. The only time such an ejection happened was in 2011, when two-thirds of the General Assembly’s members voted to oust Libya from the Geneva-based council. While on a tour in Romania this morning, America’s envoy to the world body, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that “in close coordination with Ukraine, European countries, and other partners at the UN, we are going to seek Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council.”The Geneva-based UNHRC is notorious for counting some of the worst rights violators among its 47 elected members. When President Biden rejoined the Council after America had walked, he vowed to reform the council from within.Yet, as Russia invaded Ukraine and reports of atrocities in places such as Mariupol spread widely, America remained noncommittal on what steps were necessary to push back against Russia’s standing in global bodies. UN Watch, a nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, pushed early for Russia’s ouster from the human rights body. Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from both parties then demanded Mr. Biden start the process to eject Russia’s membership. Yet, asked by the Sun last week if America would join the campaign, a senior administration official would not commit, saying instead, “we’re working with allies and partners around the world and using every tool in our toolbox to continue to hold Russia accountable, including reviewing Russia’s participation in UN and other international bodies.”This morning UN Watch’s director, Hillel Neuer, wrote on his Twitter account, “It’s happening: Russia to be ousted from the U.N. Human Rights Council. First time since Qaddafi was expelled in 2011.” A spokesperson for the General Assembly president, Paulina Kubiak, said a vote to suspend UNHRC membership would require two-thirds of the assembly’s 193 members who voted either yes or no. That means abstentions would not count in the tally.Based on the pattern in two recent symbolic votes to condemn Russia, such a majority at the assembly would be easy to achieve. It would make Russia the first country to be ejected from the Geneva council since 2011. No word yet on whether countries like Communist China, Cuba, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mauritania, Pakistan, or Venezuela — all members of the world’s top body charged with judging the human rights record of democracies like Israel — deserve a similar fate to Russia’s.
