US Senators of Foreign Relations Committee call for Russia's removal from UN Human Rights Council

The evenly-divided US Congress has found a moment of bipartisanship regarding the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. A bipartisan group of senators from its foreign relations committee are now calling for the Biden administration to remove Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

A group of eight Democratic and four Republican senators of the Foreign Relations Committee penned a letter to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, to introduce a resolution that would remove Russia from the human rights council, citing its invasion of Ukraine.

The lawmakers cited that states that are engaging in a pattern of human rights abuses can be removed by a two-thirds vote in the UN General Assembly.

“Swift action must be taken to show the world the United States and our allies will not stand for indiscriminate and unprovoked attacks on civilians and democracies. The time has come for Russia to no longer have a seat on the Council,” said the letter, led by Democratic chair Bob Menendez and ranking Republican member Jim Risch.

“We implore you to introduce a resolution in the UN General Assembly to call for the removal of the Russian Federation from the UNHRC immediately,” wrote the lawmakers.

Libya is the only country that has been suspended from the 47-member council so far. The suspension in 2011 came as a result of violence against protesters by loyalists of the country’s then-leader Muammar Gaddafi. Some senior officials who addressed the council earlier this month also put Russia’s membership into question but did not call for a suspension.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to bring to a vote the legislation that would provide healthcare benefits for US military personnel who are suffering from illnesses that may be attributed to toxic exposure to burn pits. Schumer, who was with comedian Jon Stewart and several family members of victims of toxic exposure, pledged that the government would care for veterans who have been exposed and are suffering its effects.

The bill has already passed the House on a bipartisan vote, with 34 Republicans joining the Democratic majority. Republican Senator Marco Rubio also backed the legislation, with Schumer expressing optimism that there are enough votes to pass the bill in the Senate.

The legislation is strongly backed by US President Joe Biden, who has said that his late son, Beau Biden, who served in Iraq and was near burn pits, died from brain cancer possibly attributed to toxic exposure in 2015.