Russia Loses Seat at the UN Human Rights Council

On October 28, the UN General Assembly held the election for Human Rights Council. The 194-member states voted in a secret balloting process for 14 new members. Russia, which will finish its current term in the Human Rights Council on December 31, wanted to retain its seat but it has failed.

Russia’s failure is important for two reasons. First, it is almost impossible for one of the five powerful UN Security Council permanent member states to lose any UN election — yet that has just happened. Second, the vote was a small but symbolic victory for the international community, sending the message that countries which commit human rights atrocities have no moral right to be in the UN Human Rights Council.

Russia has been facing harsh criticism over its support for the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, where Moscow has participated in military operations that took thousands of civilian lives. Furthermore, Russia’s domestic human rights record is growing worse each year. By rejecting Russia’s candidacy, the UN member states sent a message to Moscow about Russia’s behavior with regard to international norms and human rights. UN Watch, a UN watchdog group, said after the vote that “the non-election of Russia shows that the nations of the world can reject gross abusers of human rights.”

thediplomat.com/2016/10/russia-loses-seat-at-the-un-human-rights-council/

Good news.