UN votes to monitor repression of opponents in Russia
The Palais des Nations, which houses the United Nations offices in Geneva (illustration image).
Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
This Friday, October 7 in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council has, for the first time, established a Special Rapporteur's mandate to monitor the repression of opponents in Russia, a double victory for Westerners after the Nobel Peace Prize to a Russian NGO.
Advertising
Read more
The text, which was proposed by a large part of the member countries of the European Union, was adopted with seventeen votes in favor.
Twenty-four countries abstained and six voted against, including China.
This is the first time that Moscow has been targeted by a resolution concerning the human rights situation inside the country.
The adoption of the resolution comes shortly after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Russian NGO Memorial, banned in Russia, to the imprisoned Belarusian activist Ales Beliatski and to the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties.
"
Double Win
"
"
It's a double victory
," reacted the French ambassador, Jérôme Bonnafont.
The Russian ambassador to the UN in Geneva Guennadi Gatilov, former deputy foreign minister, preferred to point out that "
less than half
" of the 47 member states of the Council voted in favor of the text.
Before the vote, he had accused “
Western countries of using the Council for political ends
”.
Russia left the Council a few months ago when the UN General Assembly voted to expel it following the invasion of Ukraine, but it has observer status and can therefore speak out.
The resolution, adopted on the day of Russian President Vladimir Putin's 70th birthday, decides to appoint a Special Rapporteur to monitor "
the human rights situation
" for a year.
The expert should be appointed in a few weeks, but it is hardly certain that he will be authorized by Moscow to go to Russia.
However, it is not unusual for UN experts not to be allowed to visit.
The resolution instructs the Rapporteur to “
collect, review and assess relevant information from all stakeholders, including Russian civil society, both inside and outside the country
”.
"
Recent draconian laws to stifle independent media and 'undesirable' organizations, harsh penalties for anyone who questions the government, or the large number of people arrested in connection with protests, are some recent examples of a policy of systematic repression
,” said Luxembourg Ambassador Marc Bichler, introducing the resolution.
In Russia, "
the Human Rights Council observes the situation
"
"
It was important for the Council to take its responsibilities, for there not to be a 'double standard', for civil society in Russia to know that the Human Rights Council is observing the situation
", underlined the French ambassador.
In May, the Council launched a high-level investigation into violations committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.
But many voices, especially from NGOs, were raised to demand that the body also take an interest in the deterioration of human rights violations in Russia.
The vote on Russia comes the day after another historic vote in the Council and a setback for the Americans.
The Council refused to discuss the abuses of which China is accused in its Xinjiang province.
Such a debate would have been part of the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, published at the end of August.
It denounced possible crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other members of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
Beijing rejects these accusations.
(
with AFP
)
►
To read also:
Nobel Peace Prize 2022: the Belarusian Ales Bialiatski, the Russian NGO Memorial and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
UN
Diplomacy
Russia
Human rights