(Geneva) Russia was more isolated than ever at the UN on Friday after a historic vote in favor of an international investigation that saw allies as close to Moscow as Venezuela and Cuba abstain.
Posted at 6:48 a.m.
Updated at 7:49 a.m.
Only Eritrea voted against the resolution that Kyiv had put on the table of the Human Rights Council (HRC).
“Today, the HRC adopted a historic resolution […]. The message to Putin was clear: you are internationally isolated and the whole world is against you,” Ukrainian Ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko told reporters, surrounded by many diplomats who then applauded her.
“Today Council members voted overwhelmingly to establish a Commission of Inquiry with a strong mandate […]. Members of the international community stand with Ukraine, and it is clear that Russia is alone,” echoed US Ambassador to the UN Sheba Crocker.
PHOTO FABRICE COFFRINI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ambassadors and diplomats surround Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko.
Earlier in the week, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding that Russia “immediately stop using force against Ukraine”, a vote hailed as “historic”.
The resolution at the HRC enjoyed the support of Westerners, but also of many other capitals around the world who denounced the failure to respect the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine by Moscow and the violence exercised against the Ukrainian people, as well as the threat to world peace.
China, however fiercely opposed to any investigation by the United Nations, abstained, while Beijing had voted against holding the urgent debate on the Russian invasion.
“This week we have seen an unprecedented demonstration of unity by the international community,” said British Ambassador to the UN Simon Manley.
“Global Catastrophe”
This vote came as the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporozhye, located in southern Ukraine, was hit on Friday by Russian army strikes which caused a fire, quickly extinguished by Ukrainian firefighters .
“The bombing of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe can lead to a global catastrophe”, warned Mme Filipenko, before the Council.
It is the first time in the Council’s history that a resolution has directly targeted Russia, according to a UN spokesperson.
“There is only one aggressor in this war, and that is Russia. […]. Russia must be held accountable for these actions”, argued French Ambassador to the UN Jérôme Bonnafont, on behalf of the EU.
“The whole of humanity has been pushed into entrenchments that we have not known for a very long time,” commented Gambia’s ambassador, Muhammadou Kah, whose country voted in favor of the resolution.
The resolution condemns “violations of human rights and violations of these rights resulting from the aggression of the Russian Federation”.
The text calls for “the rapid and verifiable withdrawal of Russian troops and Russian-backed armed groups from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine”, and calls for the emergency establishment for an initial period of one year “an independent international commission of inquiry”, the Council’s highest level of inquiry.
Investigators will be responsible for “collecting, collating and analyzing evidence of […] violations” of human rights and international humanitarian law resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with a view to future trials, and to identify those responsible for these violations “so that they can be held accountable for their actions”.
The Russian invasion caused great emotion in the world. Anti-war demonstrations and gestures of solidarity with Ukrainians have multiplied, in view of the bombardments and the exodus from Ukraine of around 1.2 million people, according to the latest UN figures.