MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on September 13-30 was characterized by increasing politicization and confrontation, including on Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Well-known negative tendencies have once again appeared in HRC’s activities," the foreign ministry said. "Politicization and confrontation increased, countries more often resorted to double standards and attempts to defame governments under pretexts of human rights protection. The faulty practice is spreading of using the Council to promote controversial and questionable concepts that have little to do with human rights, for instance, the legal status of territories," the ministry added.
"The consideration of the Syrian topic looked especially disconnected from reality, including the adoption of another harmful resolution that undermines prospects for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Syria," the ministry continued.
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry also noted positive aspects in HRC’s work. "We note positive results in the Council’s activities in separate special spheres. Work in the sphere of codification of laws on the right for development received a considerable impetus, and the coordination of the renewed mandate of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was constructive," the ministry noted.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that an alternative to the practice of double standards may be in equally respectful and depoliticized cooperation on encouraging and protecting human rights in the world. "The Russian delegation continues to work on fixing this principle as a cornerstone of UN’s functioning in the human rights dimension, by increasing constructive cooperation with all groups of countries, expert mechanisms and representatives of the civil society," the ministry concluded.