China abandons the appearance of neutrality by voting against it, fearing that this precedent could be used against it
Of all the votes carried out by the UN General Assembly, this Thursday’s was one of the most difficult. Voting “no” to Russia’s expulsion from the Human Rights Council was “like pulling the trigger,” warned the Ukrainian ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya. But supporting, or even abstaining, was considered by Russia “a hostile gesture with bilateral consequences.”
Despite all the threats and emotional blackmail from each other, Bucha’s images weighed more heavily on the world’s conscience. The resolution was approved by 93 votes, far less than the previous two that the General Assembly has passed against Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, but enough to reach the necessary two-thirds. Russia thus becomes the second country expelled from this body, created in 2006, with the only precedent being Libya in 2011.
Vladimir Putin’s government had been sitting in this Geneva-based institution for two years, which has no coercive power but is very influential and has the capacity to open investigations. Moscow also liked to speak at those meetings in which it can now only influence through third parties, which is no small thing considering that 24 countries voted against the resolution and 58 stayed.
That states like Syria, Iran or Belarus rejected it was not surprising. But the precedent he set scared enough others like Cuba and China, who considered it a manipulation of human rights to turn them into a political weapon. All those with a dubious human rights record fear that this Thursday’s resolution will be used against them tomorrow. But, in addition, there were those who considered it too hasty and even detrimental to the war crimes investigation that has not yet been carried out.
“a red dot”
There is no time to let the UN bureaucratic wheel run because “each negative vote is a red dot on the screen, red as the blood of lost lives, which will stay with you as long as memory does not fail”, warned the Ukrainian ambassador as if reciting a curse. His American colleague, Linda Thomas Greenfield, felt the weight of history. The world is watching us, she pondered. “You are wondering if the United Nations is prepared to measure up at a time like this, if we are a platform for the propaganda of those who abuse human rights or if we are capable of living up to the highest ideals that cherish the Magna Carta of the UN”. Shortly after winning the vote he was able to give everyone a collective accolade for having sent “a clear message that the suffering of victims and survivors will not be ignored.”
Humiliated by the defeat, which leaves his country even more isolated in the international community, the Russian ambassador announced his decision to “terminate early on April 7” his membership of the UN Human Rights Council. For those who find this statement confusing, the Ukrainian representative explained it with a metaphor: “You cannot present the dimension after you have been fired, and that is exactly what the Russian Federation has just done.”
The repercussions of the invasion of Ukraine worsened when the US Senate unanimously suspended trade relations with Russia and Belarus this Thursday, in addition to blocking all imports from this country, as President Joe Biden had already announced.
Topics
UN, China, Cuba, United States, Geneva, Iran, Moscow, Syria, Ukraine, War in Ukraine, human rights
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