Russia Fails in Bid to Rejoin UN Human Rights Body. They attempted to regain a seat on the United Nations’ top human rights body but fell short in the General Assembly vote. In a secret ballot, Russia received 83 votes, while Bulgaria secured 160 votes and Albania 123, winning the two available seats.
This election was viewed as a significant test of Western efforts to maintain Russia’s isolation from international human rights leadership.
Louis Charbonneau, the United Nations director at Human Rights Watch, commented, “UN member states have sent a clear message to Russia’s leadership that a government responsible for numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity is not suitable for this position.”
Moscow has not yet responded. Russia was removed from the council 18 months ago through a diplomatic effort led by the United States after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Despite growing signs of weariness regarding the conflict in Ukraine, some diplomats believed that Russia had a good chance of being re-elected to the council. China and Cuba were also successful in Tuesday’s vote. Their new three-year term begins on January 1st.
