UN gives ‘bureaucratic reply’ to note about US sanctions on Russian media — diplomat
In the comment, published by the Russian mission's official Telegram, Gatilov said Russian diplomats requested Turk "to properly assess how Washington's sanctions against the Russian media and journalists align with the US international human rights obligations, and to publicly respond"
GENEVA, October 16. /TASS/. Moscow urged UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk to assess how Washington's sanctions against the Russian media comply with Washington’s international obligations, but received only a "bureaucratic reply," Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva Gennady Gatilov said.
In the comment, published by the Russian mission's official Telegram, Gatilov said Russian diplomats requested Turk "to properly assess how Washington's sanctions against the Russian media and journalists align with the US international human rights obligations, and to publicly respond."
"In response, we recently received yet another bureaucratic reply, merely acknowledging the receipt of our note," he continued. "That is the entire reaction from the High Commissioner and his Office, who are supposed to safeguard human rights and freedoms. All things considered, further comments are unnecessary, as one can hardly talk about impartiality or objectivity of the UN chief human rights defender."
"The persecution of our correspondents is accompanied by searches, interrogations, forced deportations, as well as other egregious displays of lawlessness. Even US citizens who dared to appear on the Russian media are being subjected to unfounded accusations," Gatilov said.
"We see the White House imposing censorship and restrictions on certain media outlets that promote views that are unfavorable to the current American authorities," he added.
On September 4, the US Department of the Treasury announced that it was imposing sanctions on RT TV channel editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and her two deputies. In addition, the US Department of State is tightening the rules for working with the Rossiya Segodnya media group, RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly and Sputnik. Since 2022, the countries of the so-called collective West have introduced about 150 different restrictions against Russian media and journalists, according to statistics from the Russian Foreign Ministry, published on the ministry’s official website.