At its meeting on 10 October 2023, the UN General Assembly will consider the election of new members of the UN Human Rights Council. Among the applicants, in particular, the candidacy of the Russian Federation will be considered, which has expressed its desire to be elected despite the suspension of its membership in the Council in 2022 after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and mass atrocities committed by its military.
The coalition of human rights organisations "Ukraine. Five o'clock in the Morning" strongly protests against the consideration of the candidacy of the Russian Federation for election to the UN Human Rights Council.
We observe the impulses of the international community to seek common ground and ways for dialogue, but the ongoing aggression and numerous human rights violations committed by the Russian Federation and its troops on the territory of Ukraine are incompatible with membership in the UN Human Rights Council, as stated during the suspension of its membership in the UN Human Rights Council on 7 April 2022.
To date, the situation has not only not improved, but has deteriorated significantly. Mass kidnappings, torture, extrajudicial executions, sexual violence as a tool of intimidation - this is just a small list of all the human rights violations that the Russian Federation and its troops continue to commit on the territory of Ukraine, as noted by the Chairman of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, Erik Møse, in his report. By the way, despite the UN Independent Commission's attempts to contact the Russian Federation to obtain information on the human rights situation in the occupied territories of Ukraine, Russia has consistently ignored the experts' letters, thus hindering their activities.
The situation with human rights in the Russian Federation is similar. The state not only fails to combat massive human rights violations, but also condones disregard for internationally recognised human rights standards at the legislative level. This has been confirmed by numerous reports by international governmental and non-governmental organisations. An example is the findings of the UN Special Rapporteur on Russia, Mariana Katsarova.
In addition, a joint report by UN Watch, the Human Rights Foundation and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights showed that the Russian Federation, due to the situation with human rights violations both inside Russia and in the occupied territories of Ukraine, does not meet the necessary requirements to be elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
The Russian Federation is unwilling to cooperate with the international community in the field of human rights protection at the regional level. For many years in a row, the Russian Federation has been ranked first among the member states of the Council of Europe in terms of the number of both individual and interstate complaints. The Russian Federation has been expelled from the Council of Europe and has not taken any steps to restore compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and restore its status in the Council of Europe. Thousands of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights have not yet been implemented by Russia, and Russian legislation directly prevents such implementation. It should be recalled that Russia has ignored two orders of the International Court of Justice on provisional measures of 19 April 2017 and 16 March 2022, which has significantly increased the number of victims of its internationally wrongful acts.
For numerous crimes against children during the aggression against Ukraine, the UN Secretary-General, in his report to the UN Security Council of 5 June 2023, included the Russian Federation in the list of states that systematically commit crimes against children in armed conflict.
A clear indication that the Russian Federation has no intention of remedying the situation with massive human rights violations is that for the first time in its history of participation in the UN Human Rights Council, it has nominated its candidacy without providing voluntary human rights commitments and pledges in support of its candidacy in accordance with UN General Assembly resolution 60/251.
This eloquently demonstrates that Russia is not going to take the path of human rights observance, and considers membership in the UN Human Rights Council solely as a platform for spreading contempt for international law and its propaganda narratives. Russia is already implementing a similar strategy in the course of oral hearings of cases initiated by Ukraine against it in connection with alleged violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
The facts of brutal and bloody shelling of civilians and infrastructure by Russian troops on the eve of the vote add to the cynicism of Russia's attempts to get into the UN Human Rights Council. On 5-6 October alone, ballistic missile attacks on Kharkiv and Kharkiv region killed more than 50 civilians, including children, and injured dozens more. Also on 5 October, Russian troops shelled a civilian hospital in Beryslav, Kherson region, another attack on Ukrainian healthcare facilities, which human rights activists estimate to have taken place over 1,000 times since the start of the full-scale invasion, and which bear all the hallmarks of war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity.
On 7 April 2022, when the General Assembly suspended the rights of the Russian Federation in the UN Human Rights Council due to massive human rights violations during the aggression against Ukraine, instead of admitting its crimes and stopping the violations, it made a demarche by withdrawing from this UN body.
According to UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006, when electing members of the UN Human Rights Council, UN Member States "shall take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary commitments and pledges in this regard". Since the adoption of this decision, the situation has not improved. If the Russian Federation is elected to the UN Human Rights Council, it will be evidence that, contrary to the purposes of its activities under Article 1 of the Charter, the United Nations does not protect human rights but condones their violation. As a result, membership in the UN Human Rights Council will be devalued, and the very existence of the Council will lose all meaning.
The coalition "Ukraine. Five in the Morning Coalition is firmly convinced that the United Nations can and must ensure that human rights are observed and respected. That is why we call on states to prevent the election of the Russian Federation as a member of the UN Human Rights Council until the Russian Federation stops its aggression against Ukraine, which has resulted in numerous gross human rights violations on the territory of Ukraine. Before being admitted to the UN Human Rights Council, the Russian Federation must demonstrate respect for human rights proclaimed in numerous UN instruments and ensure accountability for its gross, cynical violations and disregard for them. Only zero tolerance to states that systematically violate human rights should be the key to promoting human rights as universal values and ensuring the implementation of the UN's goals and principles.
07.10.2023
