BBC: Russia wants to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council

Russia seeks to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council. Russian diplomats ask the members of the organization for support.

The BBC writes about it.

The UN General Assembly supported the resolution on the suspension of Russiaʼs membership in the UN Human Rights Council on April 7, 2022. Russia was deprived of all procedural rights enjoyed by members of the Council. After that, the Russian Federation announced its "voluntary withdrawal" from its membership.

BBC journalists received a copy of the document that Russia is distributing among UN members. In it, Russia promises to find "adequate solutions to human rights problems" and declares its desire to prevent the transformation of the Council into "an instrument that serves the political will of one group of countries."

According to diplomats, Russia hopes to restore some international trust after allegations of human rights violations in Ukraine and on its own territory.

The UN Human Rights Council is based in Geneva and consists of 47 members, each of whom is elected for a three-year term. In the next elections, which will be held on October 10, Russia plans to compete with Albania and Bulgaria for two seats in the Council, which are reserved for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. All 193 members of the UN General Assembly in New York will participate in the vote.

• 93 members of the UN General Assembly voted for the resolution to suspend Russiaʼs membership in the UN Human Rights Council, 24 were against, and 58 abstained. Russia blamed "the United States and its allies" for the loss of membership.
• In May 2022, the UN General Assembly elected the Czech Republic as a member of the Human Rights Council instead of Russia, whose membership was suspended due to the war against Ukraine.