GENEVA, September 16. /TASS/. Confrontation at the United Nations Human Rights Council has reached an unacceptable level, with room for dialogue shrinking, Alexey Borodavkin, Russia’s permanent representative at the United Nations Geneva office and other Geneva-based international organizations, said on Friday.
"We are very concerned over the fact that confrontation at the Council has reached an unacceptable level," Borodavkin, who leads the Russian delegation, said at the session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. "For years, we have been warning of such situation and have been doing our best to promote the principle of cooperation within the Council. But we are not being heeded."
He drew attention to the widely used practice of "unfair use of the Council as an instrument of interfering into domestic affairs, of political pressure and lambasting ostracized countries, which is not merely incompatible with the tasks of promoting and advocating human rights but is doing irreparable damage to these activities." He expressed concern over "narrowing room for dialogue" because of resolutions "seeking to split the global community."
He also criticized the practice of "imposing political agenda" which leads to "new division lines within the Council."
According to the Russian diplomat, human rights observance is impeded by a number of factors, including international terrorism which "endangers not only human rights but the entire civilization." He said Moscow is confident that human rights advocacy "cannot be used as a justification of extremism and terrorism" and resolutely condemns terrorism in all of its manifestations.
He reminded that Russia is running for a next term in the Council. "In case we are elected, we will continue our resolute efforts to have the Council gradually get rid of polarization and vile practices of isolating certain countries," Borodavkin said. "It is vital that the Council realizes its uniting potential and focuses on cooperation and promotion of national efforts to bolster respect to human rights."
Moscow sees its task in that and calls on all states that want the United Nations Human Rights Council to be a useful mechanism to work on the same track, the Russian diplomat stressed.