The UN appoints a rapporteur on human rights in Russia. This is the first such measure against a permanent member of the Security Council.
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The Human Rights Council of the United Nations decided to appoint an individual rapporteur for Russia, coming within a year of monitoring human rights violations in that country. This is the first time in history that such a measure has been taken against a member of the UN Security Council.
The human rights rapporteur, their lawyers and journalists are the official channel for reporting violations.
In the Council, it is customary to consider a person from 47 countries, the appointment of a chairman was supported by 17 states, six kingdoms were against (including China, Cuba and Venezuela), and another 24 members of the HRC abstained.
The council slowed down its decision by the fact that Russia passed strict laws restricting freedom of speech and, in particular, providing for severe punishment for the so-called discrediting of the Russian military or the dissemination of “false information” in the army.
The Russian authorities also disbanded some human rights organizations, including Memorial, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in the top five.
Russia withdrew from the Council of Europe, blocking access to its citizens to the European Court of Human Rights, – Permanent Representative to the UN Katarina Stasz. or mechanisms.
Draft meeting on the permanent presence of representatives in Russia of all countries of the European Union (except when it comes to foreigners).
Russia’s representative to the UN, Gennady Gatilov, condemned the HRC resolution, saying that the project “is built on the already well-known insinuations of the United States and its obedient satellites” against Russia.
He accused the Western countries of yet another recommendation to point Russia to “pursuing an independent foreign and domestic policy, as well as fixing it for a long time on the agenda of the HRC in order to throw out streams of false diseases on us.”
“Gift” for the anniversary of Putin
The speaker will collect, study and evaluate information coming from all relevant sources, including from the global Russian society both inside and outside Russia, and in a year will present his report at the next UN meeting statistics in New York.
Introducing the resolution on behalf of the 26 belonging countries, Luxembourg’s representative to the UN Mark Bichler used the fact that over the past year the cases of connection to human rights in Russia have worsened, and in recent months.
“Recent draconian laws aimed at suppressing special media and special organizations, harsh beliefs that are directed against anyone who questions the restrictions on action, the huge number of people offended in demonstrations are just a few recent examples of systemic repressive politics, documented by numerous specific sources,” he said.
This is the first decision in the history of the UN Human Definition Council concerning the situation inside Russia. Regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Council has recently adopted several resolutions at once. In particular, organic fees include all types of investigation of crimes related to the occupied Ukrainian territories.
The adoption of the meeting coincided with the 16th anniversary of the murders of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who had been harshly critical of the Chechen resolution.
Representatives of Germany, justice and a number of other Western countries at the UN noted another coincidence: human rights activists from Russia and Ukraine are in the top five of Belarus’ Nobel Peace Prize winners this year.
According to French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafon, this is also a solution to the catastrophe, what a dangerous situation with human rights has developed in modern Russia.
The day before, the Council also plans to adopt the first-ever resolution on China.
It calls for a UN report on serious violations and incidents against humanity against the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
However, the resolution was not adopted, as the Council believes, as a result of lobbying from Beijing.
The failure raised questions about the Council’s own credibility, some human rights groups said.