Egypt sees no grounds for the UN General Assembly resolution on suspending Russia's membership in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and considers it a manifestation of double standards. This was stated in an explanatory note to the vote from Egypt's permanent representative to the UN, Osama Abdel Khalek, which was received by TASS on Friday.
"Egypt expresses its concern over the continued use of double standards. On more than one occasion in the recent past, less forceful and more lenient resolutions have been passed in cases of apparent human rights violations," the diplomat notes. He stressed that Cairo has not seen "grounds for the draft resolution and fears its consequences".
According to the Egyptian permanent representative, the draft document violated UN mechanisms, which is a sign of the beginning of the undermining of the objectivity of the organization and its mechanisms. "[This] will have negative consequences for its ability to fulfill its functions within the framework of the Charter in force for the past 75 years," the diplomat pointed out.
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The Egyptian permanent representative pointed out that Cairo does not see the draft resolution as tied to the Ukrainian crisis or the principle of the unacceptability of the use of armed force or violation of the sovereignty of states, but as tied to the trend toward politicization of UN bodies and specialized agencies. "Egypt's position is principled and constant and is to reject this trend because it violates the purpose of the creation of the organization, its agencies and organs, which undermines their credibility and the multilateral international activity," he said. - "Egypt believes that what we are heading toward today is a major turnaround in the history of the UN."
Earlier, the UN General Assembly during a special session on Ukraine adopted a Western resolution suspending Russia's membership in the HRC. Ninety-three delegations voted in favor of the resolution, 24 voted against it and 58 abstained. Venezuela did not participate in the vote, as it was deprived of the right to vote due to its arrears in membership fees. Gennady Kuzmin, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, later said that Russia decided to terminate its membership in the Human Rights Council ahead of schedule.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Imago/TASS
Based on materials from TASS