MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Russia rejects a resolution of the UN Human Rights Council and the false accusations it contains, and refuses to cooperate with a special mechanism established within this institution, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The ministry said that on an initiative from 26 EU member states, the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council had adopted a draft resolution on human rights in Russia on October 7.
"While strongly rejecting today’s resolution and the false accusations in it, Russia will ignore the special mechanism of the HRC that has been established, and refuses to cooperate with it," the statement says.
According to the ministry, the document is based "on already well-known Western insinuations about the persecution of civil society members, rights activists and sexual minorities in Russia."
"The ‘concerns’ listed in the draft fail to reflect the real state of affairs, but, more importantly, they cannot in any way serve as a basis for creating the office of a special rapporteur on Russia - which is the final product of this anti-Russian document," the ministry’s statement says.
The initiative has nothing to do with protection of human rights in general, and of Russians in particular, Russian diplomats added.
"It is about creating one more lever that can be used for putting pressure on Russia in the human rights dimension. We view this initiative as a yet another attempt to punish our country for its independent domestic and foreign policy," the ministry said.
"Importantly, we have never dodged from discussions on most acute human rights issues, including as part of interaction with special procedures of the HRC and treaty bodies. Our lines of reasoning with regard to the problems mentioned in the text are well known and have been reflected in many reports and documents," it said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry added that this one-sided and confrontational move carries devastating potential for the entire scope of human rights activities within the UN framework.
"In this regard, we are grateful to our partners who refused to support this initiative. Out of the 47 members of the Council, 30 countries - or almost two thirds - refused to support the EU-authored document, and this fact speaks for itself," the ministry said.
The Russian side "will continue to defend its priorities within the framework of the HRC."
"We are convinced that the main task of the UN Human Rights Council is to promote commitment to universal human values, not to short-term interests of a narrow circle of Western political elites," Russian diplomats said.