The US on Monday said Russia should be suspended from the council, seeking a vote by the general assembly later this week, where it needs a two-thirds majority for the proposal.
“Luxembourg actively supports this initiative,” a spokesperson for the foreign affairs ministry told Delano in an email.
Luxembourg in January joined the Human Rights Council (HRC) for a three-year mandate at the same time as the US started a fourth term after it had previously exited the body in 2018 under president Donald Trump.
During a press conference on Monday, foreign minister Jean Asselborn (LSAP) had said that images emerging from Ukraine as the Russian army retreats from areas around Kyiv “can barely be believed.”
More than 400 people are reported to have been killed in Bucha, a city near Ukraine’s capital, with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing Russia of committing war crimes. The Kremlin has denied that civilians were killed in Bucha and claims the photos showing corpses strewn in the streets are fake.
“Russia's participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce,” the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on Monday. One of the reasons Trump had pulled the country out of the council was its inclusion of human rights abusers among its 47 members. Russia has a seat until 2023.
Defiance and condemnation
On 2 March, 141 of the 193 UN member states voted to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Five countries voted against the resolution and 35 abstained, including China, which also sits on the Human Rights Council until the end of next year.
“Luxembourg has already supported UN resolutions condemning the Russian aggression against Ukraine and we know it is likewise taking these credible allegations of war crimes and atrocities in Bucha very seriously,” said US ambassador to Luxembourg Tom Barrett in a statement.
“We are urging all countries, including Luxembourg, to join us in seeking Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council,” he said. “The international community must stand in clear defiance and condemnation of such horrific conduct.” A plenary meeting of the UN is scheduled for 8 April.
We are urging all countries, including Luxembourg, to join us in seeking Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council
Backing Russia’s suspension is a change of tune for Luxembourg, which has previously insisted on the importance of keeping all players around the negotiating table.
“It is, in my eyes, crucial to keep all countries engaged in the multilateral human rights system, rather than having an HRC that would be a ‘closed club’,” Asselborn said in an in Delano’s February edition.
The minister at the time also said he is “looking forward to a constructive and efficient cooperation with our American colleagues.”
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, during a press conference on Monday repeated claims that the footage of atrocities was staged, calling the attempt to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council “unbelievable” and unhelpful for peace talks.