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Russia is seeking to join the United Nations Human Rights Council in an election that will be seen as a key test of its international standing. It was expelled from the top UN human rights body last April after its forces invaded Ukraine.
But now Russian diplomats are seeking to rejoin the council for a new three-year term. The BBC has obtained a copy of the letter Russia is circulating to UN members asking for their support. The vote will take place next month, the BBC reports.
In the first document, Russia promises to find "adequate solutions to human rights issues" and seeks to prevent the council from becoming an "instrument that serves the political will of a group of countries," understood as a reference to the West.
Diplomats said Russia hoped to regain some international credibility after being accused of human rights abuses in Ukraine and within its borders. The latest evidence of these abuses was presented to the human rights council on Monday in a report by its Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
Erik Mose, chairman of the commission, said there was persistent evidence of war crimes including torture, rape and attacks on civilians. A report two weeks ago by the UN's special rapporteur on Russia, Mariana Katzarova, said the human rights situation in Russia had also "deteriorated significantly", with critics of the occupation subjected to arrests, torture and ill-treatment.
The UN Human Rights Council is based in Geneva and has 47 members, each elected for a three-year term. In the upcoming elections, which will be held on October 10, Russia will compete with Albania and Bulgaria for the two seats in the council reserved for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
The vote will involve all 193 members of the UN general assembly in New York. Diplomats there said Russia was campaigning aggressively, offering small countries grain and weapons in exchange for their votes. As such, they said it was entirely possible that Russia would return to the council.
Its main point is that Russia would use its membership "to prevent the growing trend of the HRC turning into an instrument that serves the political will of a group of countries." He said he does not want this group to "punish disloyal governments for their independent foreign policy."
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