Russia declares early termination of membership of UN Human Rights Council

Russia has made a decision on the early termination of its membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"The Russian side considers the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on April 7 in New York to suspend the membership of the Russian Federation in the UN Human Rights Council as an unlawful and politically motivated step in order to defiantly punish a sovereign UN member state that pursues an independent domestic and foreign policy," the ministry said in a statement.

The council is now monopolized by a group of states that use it for their own opportunistic purposes, it added.

"Having proclaimed themselves a standard in the field of human rights, these states are directly involved in gross and mass violations of human rights," it said.

Russia will continue to contribute to the protection of human rights though it made such a decision, according to the ministry.