A preview of the special session on the situation in Ukraine of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

BUCHAREST, April 4 (Reuters) – The United States will ask the United Nations General Assembly to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, the American ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday, after the Ukraine accused Russian troops of killing dozens of civilians in the city. from Bucha.

A two-thirds majority vote by the 193-member assembly in New York can suspend a state for persistently gross and systematic human rights abuses.

“Russia’s participation in the Human Rights Council is a farce,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a visit to Romania.

“And that’s wrong, which is why we think it’s time for the UN General Assembly to vote to remove them.”

Ukraine said it would use all “available UN mechanisms” to gather evidence of Russia’s crimes in the country.

“No place for Russia in the UN Human Rights Council,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. Read more

Thomas-Greenfield said she wants to vote this week.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Assembly has passed two resolutions denouncing Russia with 140 votes in favour. Moscow says it is carrying out a “special operation” to demilitarize Ukraine.

“My message to these 140 countries who have bravely united is this: the images of Bucha and the devastation across Ukraine compel us to translate our words into deeds,” Thomas-Greenfield told reporters during a visit. In Romania.

In New York, Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, visibly irritated, described as “incredible” the attempt to exclude Russia from the Council, adding that it was not going to help the peace talks.

“This is again unprecedented and it will not facilitate or encourage or help what is happening between Russia and Ukraine peace talks,” Nebenzia told a news conference.

He repeated Russian denials of accusations of atrocities at Bucha, saying the images shown were “staged”. He said Russia would present more evidence on the issue at Tuesday’s scheduled meeting of the UN Security Council.

The deputy mayor of Bucha said that about 50 bodies found after the withdrawal of Russian forces had been victims of extrajudicial executions by Russian troops. Read more

Reuters was unable to independently verify who was responsible for killing these Bucha residents.

Ukrainian authorities have said they are investigating possible war crimes in that country. The Kremlin has denied charges related to the killing of civilians in the city.

Russia is in its second year of a three-year term on the 47-member council, which cannot make legally binding decisions, but its decisions send important political messages and can authorize investigations.

Last month, he opened an investigation into alleged rights abuses, including possible war crimes, in Ukraine since the Russian invasion. Thirty-two members voted in favor of the resolution, presented by Ukraine. Russia and Eritrea voted against while 13, including China, abstained.

The United States said war crimes had been committed in Ukraine and that American experts were gathering evidence to prove it.

The General Assembly previously suspended a country from the council. In March 2011, he unanimously suspended Libya over violence against protesters by forces loyal to then-leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Reporting by Michelle Nichols in Bucharest, additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington, Emma Farge in Geneva and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; edited by John Stonestreet and Grant McCool

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