GENEVA (Reuters) – Russia missed out on a bid to return to the United Nations’ top human rights body on Tuesday, losing a vote to Albania and Bulgaria at the General Assembly in New York.
Here is that the U.N. Human Rights Council does:
– The United Nations Human Rights Council has 47 voting members from five regional groups. They are elected for three years for a maximum period of two consecutive terms.
– Members are voted on by secret ballot by the General Assembly in New York.
– In this vote, 17 countries competed for 15 seats starting from 2024-2026.
– The body was created in 2006 and is responsible for “promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner”.
– It replaced the Human Rights Commission which was dissolved partly due to a controversy over membership.
– New rules were created on eligibility meant to prevent major abusers getting voting rights.
– It meets three times a year at the U.N. in Geneva in sessions attended by diplomats, ministers, presidents, civil society and human rights victims and activists.
– It also holds regular peer review sessions where countries scrutinise each other’s human rights records.
– The body does not have legally binding powers but its meetings raise scrutiny and it can mandate investigations to document abuses, which sometimes form the basis for war crimes prosecutions.
– Russia was suspended in April 2022 following a U.S.-led push after its invasion of Ukraine. Council suspensions are rare.
– The United States under former president Donald Trump walked out of the body in 2018 over an alleged chronic bias against Israel. It has since rejoined and is a voting member.
– The council opened an investigation in March 2022 into the Ukraine war and has accused Russian forces of violations that may constitute crimes against humanity. It also appointed an investigator into Russia’s domestic rights record last year.
– Other ongoing probes include an international investigation into repression in Iran and an inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
