On April 7, local time, the United Nations General Assembly held an emergency special session on the Ukraine issue and voted to pass a resolution on the suspension of Russia's membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The draft resolution proposed by the United States and other countries expresses serious concerns over "the continuing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine" and calls for the suspension of Russia's membership in the Human Rights Council.
The result of the vote that day was 93 votes in favor, 24 votes against, and 58 abstentions.
China voted against.
Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, said in his explanatory remarks before the vote at the UN General Assembly that the drafting process of the draft resolution was not open and transparent, nor did it hold consultations with all member states as usual to listen to opinions widely.
Under such circumstances, rushing to take action at the UN General Assembly and forcing countries to choose sides will aggravate the division of member states, intensify the contradictions between the parties, and add fuel to the fire.
Zhang Jun emphasized that dealing with the membership of the Human Rights Council in this way will create a new dangerous precedent, further intensify the confrontation in the field of human rights, and have a greater impact on the UN governance system, resulting in serious consequences.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has a total of 47 seats. About one-third of its members are re-elected by the General Assembly through secret ballots every year for a term of three years and can be re-elected once.
Russia was elected as a new member of the Human Rights Council on October 13, 2020, for a term that begins on January 1, 2021 and ends on December 31, 2023.
(Producing Yue Ziyan video source Visual China)
Responsible editor: [Ji Xiang]