Will Russia be kicked off the UN Human Rights Council?

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has joined the ​​US ambassador to the United Nations in calling for Russia to be expelled from the organisation’s Human Rights Council.

Truss said on Twitter that given the “strong evidence” of war crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine, including the “heinous butchery” of civilians in the town of Bucha, “Russia must be suspended” from the council.

Backing that demand, US diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield tweeted that “suspending Russia from the UN Human Rights Council is something we, collectively, have the power to do in the General Assembly. Our votes can make a real difference.”

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Seat at the table

The UN high commissioner for human rights said on Monday that images and testimony from Bucha revealed “grave breaches of international humanitarian law and serious violations of international human rights law”.

“Reports emerging from this and other areas raise serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes,” Michelle Bachelet continued in a statement. “It is essential that all bodies are exhumed and identified so that victims’ families can be informed, and the exact causes of death established. All measures should be taken to preserve evidence.”

Bachelet had told the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) last week that her office had received “credible allegations” that Moscow had used cluster ammunition in populated areas.

“The massive destruction of civilian objects and the high number of civilian casualties strongly indicate that the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution have not been sufficiently adhered to,” she said, referencing the Geneva Conventions that set the legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war.

US ambassador Thomas-Greenfield yesterday said that Washington was working “in close coordination with Ukraine, European countries and other partners at the UN” to “seek Russia’s suspension” from the UNHRC.

“The images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us to now match our words with action,” she told reporters in Romania, where the US is trying to aid efforts to assist refugees coming from Ukraine.

Getting the boot

Russia is in the second year of a three-year term on the 47-member human rights council. The UN committee is not able to make legally binding decisions, but can authorise investigations into potential breaches of human rights.

The body launched a formal investigation into allegations of rights violations in Ukraine, including possible war crimes, shortly after Russia invaded the neighbouring eastern European nation in late February. Only Russia and Eritrea voted against the probe, while China abstained.

A resolution to suspend Russia’s membership “would require support from two-thirds of member countries”, ITV News reported. The only other country to have faced suspension is Libya, which was booted out in March 2011 following a unanimous vote, amid widespread “violence against protesters by forces loyal to then-leader Muammar Gaddafi”.

Kicking Russia off the council is “the strongest message the UN could send to the world that the international community condemns” the Ukraine invasion, the broadcaster added.

Will it happen?

In a ballot on 4 March, Russia’s invasion was condemned by 32 UNHRC members – which is also the minimum number of votes needed to suspend Moscow from the body.

The growing push to suspend Russia was strengthened by a warning yesterday to the UN Security Council by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that invading troopers were committing “the most terrible war crimes” since WWII.

The warning came hours after the UN Human Rights Office described the images and testimony emerging from Bucha and the surrounding area, to the northwest of Kyiv, as “extremely disturbing”.

Canada is among the countries that have publicly voiced support for expelling Russia. In a tweeted message yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said: “With ongoing reports of heinous acts of violence and war crimes at the hands of Russian forces, Russia’s utter disregard for human rights could not be any clearer. Russia has no place on the UNHRC.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the council last month that it “must stand strong on accountability”.

France has not publicly backed Russia’s suspension, but announced on Monday that Paris would expel 35 Russian diplomats as part of a joint European action.

That Russia and nations such as Iran, China and Cuba are members of the rights council at all feels like a “cruel joke”, said Conservative Home editor-in-chief Mark Wallace in an article on the i news site.

And failing to expel Russia now could see the body become “an obstacle to justice” in Ukraine, he warned.