MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Russia’s non-election to the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) should not be considered a defeat, but the newly-elected body may become a victim of political games if it does not offer platform for different opinions, head of the international committee at the upper house of the Russian parliament Konstantin Kosachev told reporters on Saturday.
The UN HRC is a body, "where rotation is the basis, like is competition for mandates." Thus, he continued, "Russia’s representation at this very important council is non-permanent," and "there is no tragedy in this break."
"It is a different topic that during the voting Russia suffered clear defamation," he said. "This is very bad and it is not to the benefit of the very election mechanism or the countries and organizations, involved in that defamation."
This approach to Russia, he continued, will remain responsibility of its opponents, "as exactly now that the wars continue in Syria in other countries of the region, HRC should maintain its respected position as a body, which represents equally different opinions and approaches."
"Whether HRC will manage to fulfil its mission by the newly-elected countries, or will it become another victim of the geopolitical games - only time will show," he said in conclusion.
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.