Chutzpah: Russia seeks to rejoin the United Nations Human Rights Council

In an audacious display of Chutzpah Russia is seeking to rejoin the United Nations human rights council in an election that will be seen as a key test of its international standing, the BBC reports.

It was expelled from the UN’s pre-eminent human rights body last April after its forces invaded Ukraine, and following a vote in which 93 nations voted in favour of expulsion and 24 against. Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Vietnam, were among those who voted against.

Prior to the vote, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya urged countries to support the resolution.

“Bucha and dozens of other Ukrainian cities and villages, where thousands of peaceful residents have been killed, tortured, raped, abducted and robbed by the Russian Army, serve as an example of how dramatically far the Russian Federation has gone from its initial declarations in the human rights domain. That is why this case is unique and today’s response is obvious and self-explanatory,” he said.

This is not the first time that a Member State has had its membership of the Human Rights Council suspended. Libya lost its seat in 2011, following repression of protests by ruler Muammar Gaddafi, who was later overthrown.

But now Russian diplomats are seeking to get their country re-elected to the council for a fresh three-year term. The BBC has reportedly obtained a copy of the position paper Russia is circulating to UN members asking for their support.

In the document seen by the BBC, Russia promises to find “adequate solutions for human rights issues” and seeks to stop the council becoming an “instrument which serves political wills of one group of countries”, understood to be a reference to the West.