The United Nations Human Rights Council decided on Friday to monitor the situation in Russia. Never before has a resolution been passed focusing on Russia’s human rights violations.
Of the 47 member states, 17 voted to appoint a so-called special rapporteur to collect, examine and assess information. These include the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. The draft text was presented by all countries of the European Union except for Hungary.
More countries, 24 in total, did not vote, and six opposed the resolution. China was one of the opponents. Russia itself could not vote. The country was suspended from membership earlier this year. The United States insisted on this after reports of human rights violations in Ukraine.
Ahead of the vote in Geneva, Switzerland, the Russian representative to the UN expressed his dissatisfaction. He spoke of an example of “the way Western countries use the council to achieve their political goals”.
The vote happened to come just hours after the announcement of the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. This year, it will go to Belarus, Russia and Ukraine human rights defenders.