Calling On President Obama to Insist On Russia's Immediate Suspension as a Member of the UN Human Rights Council

This petition by Anne Bayefsky can be found at Change.org. President Obama promised Ukrainians, Americans, and freedom-loving people everywhere, that Russia will face isolation for its violations of fundamental rights in Ukraine. True international isolation requires the immediate removal of Russia from the United Nation’s top human rights body, the UN Human Rights Council.

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We ask you to sign this petition calling upon President Obama to take all necessary measures to suspend Russia as a member of the UN Human Rights Council. Here’s why: The UN was created to protect international peace and security and, in principle, it is committed to universal rights and freedoms for all. Russia's invasion and attempted annexation of the Crimea breaches these duties...

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Russia’s membership on the Council directly undermines the credibility and legitimacy of the United Nations in general and its human rights system in particular. Ukrainians are not the only victims of Russia's human rights abuses. The 2013 U.S. State Department Report itemizes a long list of violations, including a "crackdown on dissent that began after Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency." Freedom House gives Russia its lowest level of human rights ranking - "not free." Last but not least, Russia’s disregard for human rights includes its political, financial and military support for the genocidal regimes and state sponsors of terrorism, Iran and Syria. If Russian belligerence in the Ukraine is not met by serious consequences, aggressive ambitions of other like-minded states - and their terrorist collaborators - will be fueled around the globe... To read the petition in full and to sign it, please visit Change.org. Thank you for supporting this call to take action against a very clear violation of international peace and security, and direct threat to a democratic way of life. Anne Bayefsky is President of Human Rights Voices. Follow her on Twitter @AnneBayefsky

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