Russia seeks to rejoin UN Human Rights Council, a year after being removed

More than a year after being expelled from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Russia is seeking to rejoin the forum. According to a position paper Russia is circulating in the UN and accessed by BBC, Moscow is pushing member nations to extend support to the motion.

According to the document, Russia promises to find "adequate solutions for human rights issues" and seeks to stop the council becoming an "instrument which serves political wills of one group of countries",

Moscow believes that re-joining the UNHRCwill restore its international credibility and help wash the human rights abuse allegations that President Vladimir Putin's regime hasbeen consistently accused of during the war in Ukraine and within its own borders.

Russia was expelled from the council

It was in April last year that the UN General Assembly, during an emergency special session, voted to suspend Russia from the human rights body over allegations ofrights violations by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

The resolution was put forth by the US and passed with 93 votes in favour, 24 against it and58 abstentions. China voted against it, while India abstained.

The 47 members of the UNHRC are elected by members of the UNGA. A two-thirds vote is needed in the General Assembly to remove a member.

UN expresses concerns

Russia aiming to join the council comes a few days after a UN expert raised concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in the country ever since it invaded Ukraine.

A report published bySpecial Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova alleged thatRussian authorities have carried out mass arbitrary arrests of critics of the war and says those detained risk death due to the "persistent use of torture and ill-treatment".

“I think there is a serious place for concern and also of course, as documented by my report, an enormous crackdown on civil society. Around 600 civil society organizations from big like Memorial, the Nobel peace price winner for last year, to tiny organizations in the regions of indigenous people, of ethnic minorities, of LGBTIQ representative organizations, organizations that represent these people, have been closed down, have been forced to closed down by the authorities," saidKatzarova.

Moscow has previously called criticism of its domesticrightsrecord unfounded and denied targeting civilians in Ukraine, where it says it is carrying out a "special military operation" to destroy military infrastructure.

(With inputs from agencies)

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