MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Russia has not been included in the new composition of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) due to a confrontation at the diplomatic and informational fronts with the United States and its allies, deputy secretary of the Russian Civic Chamber Sergey Ordzhonikidze told Life Zvuk radio station.
"This is a part of an informational political war against our country led by US, when they worked with a great number of countries in order to prevent us from being elected (to HRC) and show that we are the main violators of human rights," Ordzhonikidze said noting that such actions were in response to Russian military presence in Syria.
It was earlier reported that Russia was not re-elected to UNHRC and will leave it after its mandate expires at the end of 2016. During the voting that took place at UN General Assembly on Friday, Russia’s candidacy was supported by 112 member countries, while its rivals in the East European group — Hungary and Croatia — earned 144 and 114 votes respectively.
In total, 14 HRC members were elected for the three-year term. From the African group, Egypt, Rwanda and Tunisia were elected; from the Asia Pacific group - Iraq, China, Saudi Arabia and Japan; from Latin American group - Brazil and Cuba; from West European and other countries group — UK and US.
Fifteen countries will remain members of HRC until the end of 2017, including India, Nigeria and Latvia. At the end of 2018, mandates will expire for 18 countries, including Venezuela, Germany, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, United Arab Emirates and South Korea.