Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register BUCHAREST, April 4 (Reuters) – The United States will ask the UN General Assembly to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, the US ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday after Ukraine accused Russian troops of civilians in the city. of Bouha. A two-thirds majority in New York’s 193-member assembly can suspend a state for persistently committing blatant and systematic human rights abuses. “Russia’s participation in the Human Rights Council is a hoax,” said US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield during a visit to Romania. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “And it’s wrong, that’s why we think it’s time for the UN General Assembly vote to remove them.” Thomas-Greenfield said she wanted to have the vote this week. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Assembly has passed two resolutions denouncing Russia by 140 votes to one. Moscow says it is conducting a “special operation” to demilitarize Ukraine. “My message to those 140 countries that bravely stood together is: the images of Bucha and the catastrophe throughout Ukraine require that we now match our words to action,” Thomas Greenfield told reporters during a visit. in Romania. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, said such an initiative was unlikely to gain the support of the majority. “Washington is taking advantage of the crisis in Ukraine to its advantage in an effort to either exclude or suspend Russia from international organizations, including the Human Rights Council here in Geneva,” Gatilov said. Russia is in the second year of its three-year term in the 47-member council, which can not make legally binding decisions, but its decisions send important political messages and can authorize investigations. An investigation was launched last month into allegations of human rights abuses, including possible war crimes, in Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Thirty-two members voted in favor of the resolution passed by Ukraine. Russia and Eritrea voted against, while 13, including China, abstained. The deputy mayor of Bukha said that about 50 bodies found after the withdrawal of Russian forces were victims of extrajudicial killings by Russian troops. read more Reuters has not been able to independently verify who was responsible for the killing of these Buha residents. Ukrainian authorities say they are investigating possible war crimes there. The Kremlin has denied allegations that civilians were killed in the city. The United States has said that war crimes were committed in Ukraine and that US experts were gathering evidence to prove it. The General Assembly has previously suspended one country from the council. In March 2011, he unanimously suspended Libya over violence against protesters by forces loyal to then-leader Muammar Gaddafi. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Michelle Nichols, additional by Emma Farge in Geneva. curated by John Stonestreet and Grant McCool Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
