President Joe Biden believes Russia’s United Nations Human Rights Council membership is “ludicrous,” according to the White House, as U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield prepares to call for its suspension from the organization.
“He believes it’s ludicrous for Russia to be a member of the Human Rights Council,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday.
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Thomas-Greenfield, who has been in Moldova and Romania, will “make the case” when she returns to New York City, according to Psaki. But Psaki declined to speculate on why the United States was not asking for Russia’s permanent expulsion from the council.
“I would point you to our U.N. ambassador on what specific steps, but obviously removing them would be the next,” Psaki said.
Thomas-Greenfield is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday after Russia’s retreat from Bucha, outside the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, revealed hundreds of people buried in a mass grave. At least another 20 people were found in a single street, many with their hands tied behind their backs.
In a series of tweets, Thomas-Greenfield contended 140 United Nations members had already voted to condemn Russia over its unprovoked war on Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis “it has unleashed.”
“My message to those 140 countries: the images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us to now match our words with action,” she wrote. “We cannot let a member state that is subverting every principle we hold dear to continue to participate in the @UN_HRC.”
“Russia should not have a position of authority in that body, nor should we allow Russia to use its seat on the Council as a tool of propaganda to suggest they have a legitimate concern about human rights,” Thomas-Greenfield added.
In close coordination with Ukraine and other Member States and partners at the UN, the United States is going to seek Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council.
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) April 4, 2022
Psaki was also asked on Monday if China should remain on the Human Rights Council after the Biden administration described the Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims as “genocide,” a word the president earlier on Monday declined to use in the context of Russia and Ukraine.
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“Our focus right now on the international stage on this question is on Russia, given the invasion of Ukraine,” she said. “Obviously, we will continue to press publicly and privately where we have concerns about human rights violations, including as it relates to China.”
