UN General Assembly Suspends Russia from Human Rights Council

The United States led the push to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP
The United States led the push to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP
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UN General Assembly Suspends Russia from Human Rights Council

The United States led the push to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP
The United States led the push to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP

The UN General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from the global body's Human Rights Council as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.

The high-profile rebuke of Moscow marked only the second ever suspension of a country from the council -- Libya was the first, in 2011 -- and it earned praise from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and his American counterpart Joe Biden, AFP said.

The expulsion confirmed Moscow as an "international pariah," Biden said in a searing statement that addressed what he called "horrifying" images from Ukrainian towns like Bucha, where Russian forces are accused of atrocities against civilians.

"Russia's lies are no match for the undeniable evidence of what is happening in Ukraine," Biden said.

"The signs of people being raped, tortured, executed -- in some cases having their bodies desecrated -- are an outrage to our common humanity."

Zelensky, who has longed called for a tougher international position against Moscow, applauded the UN move as "an important step," describing it on Twitter as "another punishment for RF's (Russia's) aggression" against Ukraine.

Of the 193 members of the General Assembly, 93 voted in favor of suspension as proposed by the United States, while 24 voted against. Fifty-eight abstained and the remainder did not participate, suggesting a weakening international unity against Russia at the United Nations.

Suspension required support from two-thirds of the member countries casting votes for or against; the abstentions and absences did not count.

Russia swiftly rejected the suspension, with its foreign ministry blasting the move as "illegal and politically motivated, aimed at ostentatiously punishing a sovereign UN member state that pursues an independent domestic and foreign policy."

Biden's top diplomat said Moscow got what it deserved.

"A country that is perpetrating gross and systematic violations of human rights should not sit on a body whose job it is to protect those rights," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels.

Countries voting against included China, a Moscow ally which has steadfastly abstained from criticizing the invasion. Others were Iran, the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and communist Cuba, as well as Russia itself, Belarus and Syria.

Despite pressure from Moscow for a no vote, several African countries only abstained, such as South Africa and Senegal. Also abstaining were Brazil, Mexico and India.

- 'Held accountable' -
The UN Human Rights Council was founded in 2006 and is composed of 47 member states chosen by the General Assembly.

Washington argues that suspending Russia from the Geneva-based organization that is the UN's main human rights monitor is more than symbolic, and in fact intensifies Russia's isolation after the assault on Ukraine that began February 24.

Zelensky has also called for Russia to be expelled from the UN Security Council "so it cannot block decisions about its own aggression, its own war."

Washington has admitted there is little anyone can do about Russia's position on the Security Council, where it holds veto power.

The world has been outraged by images of civilians apparently executed and left in the streets or buried in mass graves in areas formerly controlled by Russian troops. The carnage has led to new rounds of sanctions against Moscow.

Journalists including from AFP last weekend found corpses in civilian clothes, some with their hands bound, in the town of Bucha outside the capital Kyiv.

The Kremlin has denied Russian forces killed civilians, and alleged that the images of dead bodies in Bucha were "fakes."



Millions of South Koreans Vote in Presidential Poll Overshadowed by Martial Law Crisis 

 A girl casts her mother’s vote at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
A girl casts her mother’s vote at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
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Millions of South Koreans Vote in Presidential Poll Overshadowed by Martial Law Crisis 

 A girl casts her mother’s vote at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
A girl casts her mother’s vote at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, 03 June 2025. (EPA)

South Koreans turned out in force to vote in the presidential election on Tuesday, as millions of people sought to restore stability after six months of turmoil triggered by a shock martial law briefly imposed by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol.

The new president will face the challenge of rallying a society deeply scarred by the attempt at military rule and an export-heavy economy reeling from unpredictable protectionist moves by the United States, a major trading partner and a security ally.

As of 3 p.m., 30.5 million people, or nearly 69% of the electorate, had voted at 14,295 locations, according to the National Election Commission, with car dealerships, gyms and fields for traditional Korean wrestling known as ssireum turned into polling stations.

"I hope the issues surrounding martial law are addressed more clearly and transparently," said 40-year-old Seoul resident Kim Yong-Hyun. "There are still many things that don't make sense, and I'd like to see them properly resolved."

Turnout in the snap election was running slightly ahead of the 2022 presidential vote at the same time, with polls set to remain open until 8 p.m. (1100 GMT) and following early voting when more than a third of the 44.39 million eligible voters cast their ballots.

"Only six golden hours are left to save South Korea which is in crisis due to the greed of the establishment," liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung said as he urged people to vote in a Facebook post.

Both Lee and his conservative rival Kim Moon-soo have pledged change for the country, saying a political system and economic model set up during its rise as a budding democracy and industrial power are no longer fit for purpose.

Their proposals for investment in innovation and technology often overlap, but Lee advocates more equity and help for mid-to low-income families while Kim has campaigned on giving businesses more freedom from regulations and labor strife.

Overshadowing any social policy initiatives, however, is Yoon's botched attempt to impose martial law that has loomed large over the poll.

Lee has called the election "judgment day" against Kim and his People Power Party accusing them of having condoned the martial law attempt by not fighting harder to thwart it and even trying to save Yoon's presidency.

Kim was Yoon's labor minister when the former president declared martial law on December 3.

The conservative Kim, on the other hand, has branded Lee a "dictator" and his Democratic Party a "monster," warning if the former human rights lawyer becomes president, nothing will stop them from working together to amend laws simply because they do not like them.

"I and the People Power Party will do our best to save people's livelihoods and the economy," Kim said in a Facebook post.

'POLARIZED'

The frontrunner Lee and his rival Kim cast their ballots during early voting last week. Yoon and his wife voted at a school near their private residence on Tuesday, appearing relaxed but ignoring questions as they left the polling station.

Regular voters in Seoul urged the next leader to ease discord, restore stability and address urgent challenges from the fallout of the crisis that has touched their families.

"The economy has gotten so much worse since December 3, not just for me but I hear that from everybody," Kim Kwang-ma, 81, said. "And we as a people have become so polarized... and I wish we could come together so that Korea can develop again."

Lee is favored to win, according to polls released a week before the vote, leading Kim by 14 percentage points with 49% public support in a Gallup Korea survey, although Kim had narrowed an even wider gap at the start of the campaign on May 12.

Exit polls conducted by three television networks will be released at the close of the polls at 8 p.m. Ballots will be sorted and counted by machine first, then triple-checked by election officials by hand to verify accuracy.

It was not clear when the result would emerge. In 2022, Lee conceded to Yoon at around 3 a.m. the day after the vote in the closest presidential race in the country's history, which was decided by a margin of less than 1 percentage point.

The National Election Commission is scheduled to certify the result on Wednesday and the winner's inauguration is expected within hours. There will be no presidential transition as the office has remained vacant since Yoon was impeached by parliament and then removed by the Constitutional Court on April 4.