Russia Ousted From UNHRC Even As India Abstain Again!

In a very significant development on Thursday, April 7, 2022, the 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has suspended the membership of Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a UN body formed in 2006 to replace the erstwhile United Nations Human Rights Commission, with 47 elected members and a mission to promote and protect human rights around the world. In an urgently called session of the UNGA 93 nations voted for the suspension of Russia, 24 including China voted against the move and 58 nations including India abstained whose votes did not count in the final tally, and therefore, the UNGA got its two-thirds majority to pass the move. Although the move is not legally binding Russia would be effectively prevented from raising its voice in the UNHRC.  Thus, Russia becomes the first permanent member-nation of the UN Security Council to be ousted from a UN body. The other Security Council members are the US, the UK, France and China.

 

The UNGA move follows in the wake of reports of civilian killings in the Russia-Ukraine war that has been raging for the last 44 days, particularly the recent Bucha massacre near Kyiv. The UNGA resolution expressed grave concern at the violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. While Ukrainian government has welcomed the move the Kremlin authorities have expressed regrets over the decision while denying that Russian soldiers were responsible for the civilian casualties.

 

According to a news agency Russia had called upon some countries prior to the session to vote ‘no’ to the motion instead of just abstaining which might seriously affect its bilateral relations with the abstaining countries. If such reports are true this would impact India both ways: affecting its bilateral relations with Russia adversely and antagonizing the US one more time as India has been abstaining in all the previous sessions of the UNGA on Ukraine invasion.

 

While abstaining from voting against Russia the Indian representative has reiterated India’s resolve for peace and immediate cessation of the conflict. Earlier in regard to the Bucha massacre India had asked for an independent probe into the human rights violations.

 

The UNGA move was expected in light of the fact that the US and its Western allies had had to watch helplessly, apart from imposing more and more sanctions, as the war raged on; their military presence in Ukraine and the involvement of the NATO were avoided to prevent the outbreak of a world war, possibly nuclear; and that recently the US President Joe Biden had downgraded Russia President Putin from a ‘war criminal’ to a ‘butcher’.

 

We feel intensive international diplomacy would be more effective than imposing more and more punitive actions in bringing the war to an end as soon as possible. It’s just unimaginable that destructions and massacre are taking place in a modern world with the digitally connected global citizens made to witness the atrocities in an apparent paralysis.