UNGA: Russia’s membership in the Human Rights Council (HRC), to which it was elected in 2020, was suspended on Thursday after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted 93 to 24 in favor of a motion suspending Moscow from the UN body, with 58 abstentions, including India.
The resolution, titled “Suspension of the Russian Federation’s Rights of Membership in the Human Rights Council,” was proposed by a group of countries that included Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and several Latin American nations, and required a two-thirds majority of those present and voting to be adopted. Abstentions are not included in the total of those who were “present and voting.” T.S. Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UNPR), said the country abstained from “content and process” concerns.
“We are certain that all choices should be made in accordance with due procedure, as our democratic polity and structures demand.” “This also applies to international institutions, including the United Nations,” Mr. Tirumurti remarked at the UNGA during his ‘Explanation of Vote’ speech. The United States, which has had a tumultuous relationship with the HRC (having left under the Trump administration only to rejoin last year), was a driving force behind the resolution.
“If there is one side that India has picked, it is the side of peace.” And it is for an urgent end to violence,” Mr. Tirumurti added, urging diplomacy and reaffirming India’s response to the UN Security Council earlier this week, in which it said the murder of civilians in the Bucha suburb of Kyiv was “very troubling” and that India “unequivocally condemned” it. India, on the other hand, has refrained from blaming Russia for the assassinations.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that an analysis of satellite images revealed that bodies of civilians, some with their hands bound behind their backs, were present before Russian troops withdrew from the area — and were not planted thereafter Russian troops withdrew, as Moscow has claimed. According to Reuters, the German government had satellite evidence implicating Russians in the massacre of people in Bucha. The Russian military was not responsible for the killings, according to Moscow.
Mr. Tirumurti urged for an end to the violence as soon as possible, claiming that its consequences were being felt far beyond the region, such as increased food and energy prices.
India Abstained for the third time at UNGA
India’s third abstention in UNGA voting on the HRC occurred on Thursday. The first two abstentions were related to the March 4 establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate human rights and international law violations in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The resolution, which was passed on Thursday, called for Russia’s expulsion from the UN Human Rights Council, accusing Moscow of “gross and systemic violations and abuses of human rights.” The HRC is a United Nations body made up of 47 countries that is “responsible for the promotion and preservation of all human rights around the world.” Three-year periods are voted for each country.
Several countries objected to the resolution because it was pushed to a vote before an independent inquiry’s findings were presented. Some countries, like India, believed that adopting the resolution would go against due process and jeopardize the organization’s legitimacy. In addition to the Commission of Inquiry created on March 4, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and a number of UN member states, including India, had called for an independent investigation into the barbaric death of civilians in Kyiv’s Bucha district. UNGA
South Africa termed resolution in UNGA as premature
South Africa’s UNPR warned before the voting that the draught resolution from Thursday was “premature” and “prejudges the results of the commission of inquiry.” Brazil agreed that the investigation should be completed first. During the vote, both countries abstained. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Maldives, all neighbors of India, abstained. China, a member of the Council and a country accused of systematic and widespread abuses against its Uighur Muslim minority, voted against the resolution, alleging, among other things, a lack of sufficient consultation before the vote and the risk of escalating the conflict.
“The vote at the UNGA was difficult for India since it subverts and short circuits the entire Human Rights Council-led process,” former Indian UNPR Asoke Mukerji said, adding that neither side of the conflict will be pleased with India’s vote. “On the one side, its abstention would not please Russia or the United States, and on the other hand, India will be urged to do more in terms of peace proposals to end the Ukraine problem.”