MOSCOW, December 5 /TASS/. Russia has no intention of abandoning the global legal framework despite differences with foreign partners and will continue to defend its citizens’ interests in foreign countries, Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Russian Federation Council, (parliament’s upper house) stated at the Council’s session on interaction with civil society institutions on Monday.
She pointed out that the extreme politicization of the human rights issue was unfounded. "It creates serious hindrances to international cooperation such as the establishment of barriers to Russia’s re-election to the new UN Human Rights Council and the outrageous case of banning the Russian Paralympic team from the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.
"But despite the divergence with foreign partners on some matters, Russia has no plans to abandon the global legal framework," the speaker said. She added that the Russian authorities understood that it was vitally important to comprehensively bolster and stand up for humanistic principles globally, particularly in this century, "which has been marked by immense social turbulence."
"That is why we will continue to encourage in every possible way to work towards settling global problems and crises. We will defend the legitimate rights of our citizens, including Russian compatriots residing abroad," Matviyenko explained.
The lawmaker noted that the human rights issue had become a key topic in international relations in recent years. "Today, the world is witnessing a serious crisis among major human rights institutions. Many of them have turned out to be incapable of providing an adequate response to mass human rights violations and have been turned into shills by various political forces. Unfortunately, social cataclysms and conflicts have also turned into a field for the cynical application of double standards," Matviyenko said citing Syria as an example. "The loud moaning about the refugee hardships in Syria, that we hear coming from the West, combines perfectly with a refusal to render humanitarian assistance to the suffering Syrian people," the Russian lawmaker explained. "Yes, we can also see what’s happening in a fraternal nation like Ukraine," Matviyenko added.