RI Votes Abstain on the Suspension of Russia’s Membership in the UN Human Rights Council

Indonesia voted to abstain from polling the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly (PBB) to suspend membership Russia at the United Nations Human Rights Council in New York on Thursday (7/6).

This resolution was made in response to allegations of human rights violations committed by Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.

According to a UN report, two-thirds of the 193 UN member states, or 93 countries, agreed to suspend Russia’s membership of the UN Human Rights Council. Countries that support it include the United States, Ukraine, Britain, Australia, France, the Philippines, to Myanmar.

Meanwhile, a total of 24 countries opposed the resolution, including Russia, Belarus, China, Uzbekistan, and Laos.

A total of 58 countries abstained from voting on the resolution.

“Those who abstained included India, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia,” it said. UN report on Thursday (7/4).

[Gambas:Twitter]

Responding to Indonesia’s stance in the poll, the spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, emphasized that Jakarta needs to look at the results of international investigations into allegations of human rights violations in Ukraine first.

“In essence, we assess the importance of an independent investigation first, as proposed by the Secretary General of the United Nations,” said Faizasyah when contacted CNNIndonesia.com on Friday (8/4).

The decision to suspend Russia as a member of the UN Human Rights Council was taken following reports of gross and systematic human rights violations committed by Russia against Ukraine, especially in Bucha.

Last week, the Ukrainian government reported finding hundreds of bodies around the capital Kyiv, including Bucha. The photos and videos have been circulating on social media.

The Kyiv government and Western countries have been accusing Russian troops of massacring the people. However, Moscow denied and accused the photos and videos of being US propaganda.

Prior to the vote, Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya urged countries to support the resolution.

“Bucha and the dozens of cities and villages in Ukraine, where thousands of residents were killed, tortured, raped, kidnapped and robbed by Russian soldiers, serve as examples the Russian Federation has far deviated from the declaration of human rights. That is why this case is unique and the response is now clear and pretty clear,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Gennady Kuzmin, Deputy Ambassador of Russia, called on countries to oppose the efforts of the West and allies that are considered to destroy the architecture of human rights.

This is not the first time that a member state of the UN Human Rights Council has been suspended. In 2011, Libya lost its seat, following violence by President Muammar Gaddafi.

(isa/rds)

[Gambas:Video CNN]

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