GENEVA, April 4. /TASS/. A total of 22 out of 47 countries participating in the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session did not support the anti-Russian resolution initiated by the countries of the collective West providing for a one-year extension of the mandate of the commission investigating human rights violations in Ukraine.
Like last year, the resolution was initiated by the Western countries together with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The ten-page document uses assessments and narratives typical of the states on Russia's list of unfriendly states. Among other things, it contains a provision to extend for one year the mandate of the commission to investigate the events in Ukraine, which was set up by the Human Rights Council at the initiative of Western countries to exert political pressure on Russia.
Burundi, China, Ethiopia and Sudan voted against the anti-Russian resolution at the session. Eighteen countries abstained, including Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and South Africa. Among the 25 countries that voted in favor of the resolution were NATO and EU countries, as well as Albania, Costa Rica, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Gambia, Ghana and others.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly pointed to the biased and corrupt nature of the commission established by the UNHRC to investigate violations in Ukraine. Thus, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized that "the speculative conclusions of the commission are based on the unsubstantiated stories of arbitrarily selected individuals who position themselves as victims and eyewitnesses of the alleged crimes of the Russian military." For these reasons, Russia has refused any form of interaction with this structure.
The 58th session of the Human Rights Council is taking place in Geneva from February 24 to April 4. Russia is not a member of the council.
