When Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered a speech at the United Nations Human Rights Council a few days ago, representatives of various countries and diplomats left the venue early.Photo: Dazhi Image/Associated Press
When countries successively announced a new round of sanctions against Russia, the United Nations General Assembly voted yesterday (7) to suspend Russia’s qualifications in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). He decided to “terminate his status early.” China, Russia’s ally, voted against it.
With 93 votes in favor, 24 votes against, and 58 abstentions, the UN General Assembly passed the suspension of Russia’s mandate on the UN Human Rights Council in response to the “severe and systematic” human rights violations and abuses by the Russian military during its invasion of Ukraine. In addition, Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, announced before the vote that he would vote against it, and China also voted against it as expected.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement that he was grateful to the international community for helping him choose the right side of history, “to leave Russia’s war criminals with no place in the United Nations organization, which aims to protect human rights.” And the United States A few days ago, after reports of the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Bucha, a town on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, it announced that it was seeking to suspend Russia’s power in the Human Rights Council. U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on 140 countries that had previously backed two resolutions condemning Russia to vote again.
Representatives of Russia and Ukraine exchanged heated speeches before the vote. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, slammed Russia for not only committing human rights violations, but also shaking the foundations of international peace and security. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Gennady Kuzmin, shot back, saying the proposal reflected an attempt by the United States to maintain its dominance. “Russia does not accept one-sided, false accusations.”
The United Nations Human Rights Council consists of 47 member states. Russia was elected in the October 2020 re-election, along with China and other countries with “poor human rights records”. The three-year term was originally scheduled to expire at the end of 2023. Its members are voted on by the UN General Assembly, and according to regulations, members of the Human Rights Council can be suspended as long as two-thirds agree (abstentions are not counted). A country that has received similar treatment in the past is Libya, which was voted out of the Human Rights Council by the UN General Assembly in 2011 for violence against protesters by troops loyal to then-dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
In addition, the AUKUS tripartite security alliance composed of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia announced on the 5th that it will cooperate in the development of hypersonic weapons and electronic warfare capabilities. This move caused dissatisfaction in China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian criticized AUKUS at a press conference on the 6th, saying that AUKUS is a “small circle”, and accused the United States, Britain and Australia of increasing the risk of nuclear proliferation, impacting the international nuclear non-proliferation system, and intensifying the arms race in the Asia-Pacific. He believes that “Asia-Pacific countries must firmly oppose it.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison pointed out that the plan to develop hypersonic missiles is in line with Australia’s strategic plan to strengthen the military’s long-range strike capability, and he hopes Australia will acquire this capability as soon as possible and cooperate with partner countries. In this regard, some public opinion believes that the conclusion of AUKUS refers to China. According to a previous report by the British “Financial Times”, China has tested a hypersonic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and the missile deviates from the target by about 20 miles (about 32 kilometers).
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, NATO) held a meeting of foreign ministers of member states in Brussels, Belgium on the 6th and 7th. In addition to inviting Ukrainian, Georgia and other foreign ministers to discuss how to deal with Russian aggression, NATO “will also discuss NATO’s New Strategic Concept,” which is how to deal with the new security realities facing NATO, “including a more powerful CCP. security consequences.” To this end, NATO invited Asia-Pacific partners Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to participate in this ministerial meeting for the first time. value challenge.
As countries successively announced a new round of sanctions against Russia, the UN General Assembly voted yesterday (7) to suspend Russia’s qualifications in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Russia also immediately objected, even saying it had decided to “terminate its status early.” Russia’s ally, China, voted against it.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba thanked the international community for their support and choice of the historically correct side.Photo: Dazhi Image/Associated Press
AUKUS is helping Australia build nuclear-powered submarines, and it is rumored that the original Collins class may be used for power changes. The picture shows the current Australian Navy Collins (Classe Collins) submarine. Image taken from the Royal Australian Navy website navy.gov.au