The 193-member UN General Assembly will vote on Thursday on a U.S. push to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), diplomats said.
A two-thirds majority of voting General Assembly members in New York can suspend a country for committing gross and systematic violations of human rights. Russia is in its second year of a three-year term on the 47-member Human Rights Council.
The United States is leading the push to suspend Russia from the council following the apparent discovery of murdered civilians in Kyiv’s suburbs over the weekend.
Ukrainian forces found bodies scattered in the streets of Bucha, a suburb of Kviv. Some were found with evidence indicating they’d been killed at close range.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops of committing “the most terrible war crimes” since the Second World War when he addressed the UN Security Council on Tuesday. Russia has rejected the accusations.
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Canada joined its allies calling for Russia to be suspended from the UNHRC over the war in Ukraine.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said on Tuesday that Russia should not sit on the council due to “war crimes” it’s reportedly committed since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24.
“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,” Joly said on Twitter.
“Russia has no place on the UNHRC.”
— with files from Global News.
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