Russia faces a tough fight to regain its seat in the UN's top human rights body
United Nations: Russia faces a tough fight to regain a seat in the U.N.'s premiere human rights body in Tuesday's election in the General Assembly, which voted last year to suspend Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine. The 193-member assembly will be electing 15 members to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, with candidates put forward by the U.N.'s five regional groups.
Russia is competing against Albania and Bulgaria for two seats allotted to the East European regional group, and Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused the United States on Monday of leading a campaign to prevent their return to the council.
«The main phobia of our American colleagues today is electing Russia to the Human Rights Council,» Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting called by Ukraine on last week's strike by a Russian missile on a Ukrainian soldier's wake in a small village that killed 52 people.
The United States and others have sent letters to many of the 193 members of the General Assembly urging a vote against Russia, according to diplomats.
Felice Gaer, director of the American Jewish Committee's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, was among the non-government letter-writers also urging Russia's defeat.
Albania's U.N.
Ambassador Ferit Hoxha also urged those who care about human rights and «the credibility of the Human Rights Council and its work» to oppose a country that kills innocent people, destroys civilian infrastructure, ports and grain silos «and then takes pride in doing so.»
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council that Russia's re-election to the Human Rights Council «while it openly continues to commit war crimes and other atrocities would be an ugly stain
