On Tuesday, during a General Assembly election, Russia failed in its bid toregain its seat on the UN Human Rights Council. This decision came as aresult of the General Assembly’s prior resolution to suspend Russia due toits invasion of Ukraine. The election was held to fill two seats allocatedto the Eastern European regional group on the 47-member Human RightsCouncil. Russia faced competition from Albania and Bulgaria.
In the secret ballot, Bulgaria secured 160 votes, while Albania received123, leaving Russia with 83 votes. During a Security Council session theday before, Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, accused the UnitedStates of leading efforts to prevent Russia from rejoining the Human RightsCouncil. He claimed that the United States was particularly averse toRussia’s election to the council.
On the other side, US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood expressed concerns thatRussia’s re-election to the Human Rights Council would undermine theinstitution’s credibility and the United Nations itself. He referred to itas an “ugly stain” on the organization.
It’s important to note that in other regional races, there was nosignificant competition. After the ballots were cast and counted, AssemblyPresident Dennis Francis announced the countries that were elected to serveon the Human Rights Council for three years, beginning on January 1, 2024.
Read Top Stories
These countries included Albania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, China, Coted’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan,Kuwait, Malawi, and the Netherlands. China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, France,and Malawi were re-elected for their second terms.