Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Speech by Ambassador V.Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the reception on the occasion of the candidacy of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Human Rights Council

Dear colleagues and friends,

I would like to warmly welcome you to our Permanent Mission. Today our reception is dedicated to the candidacy of the Russian Federation at the forthcoming election to the Human Rights Council.

Born in heated discussions ten years ago, the Council is a unique element of the UN system. Though priorities and approaches of states in the Council often diverge, sometimes drastically, its relevance is widely recognized.

In today’s world human rights are high on the international agenda along with the maintenance of global peace, security and sustainable development. Real progress in human rights may be achieved only through equal cooperation and trust among states. Our joint efforts to promote and protect human rights can be effective only if they are undertaken in strict compliance with norms and principles of international law including the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, other fundamental documents adopted in the UN. This means that human rights should not be used as a pretext for interfering in internal affairs or as a tool to impose controversial approaches. 

This year is special for the universal system of protection and promotion of human rights. It marks the 50-th anniversary of the adoption of two key legally binding instruments – the International Covenants on Human Rights – providing an excellent opportunity to re-emphasize that all human rights are equally important. Tomorrow this anniversary will be commemorated by the General Assembly while earlier this year it was the focus of a high-level panel organized by our delegation at the thirty-first session of the Human Rights Council.

In the coming days the General Assembly will elect fourteen members of the Human Rights Council. As all of you know, the Russian Federation has decided to present its candidacy for re-election. During its previous terms in the Human Rights Council our country has been consistently working with other states to make the Council an effective tool for promoting and protecting human rights across the world. We intend to continue advocating the principles of universality, non-selectivity and objectivity in the Council, as well as equal treatment of all categories of human rights and respect for diversity of cultures and civilizations. 

Russia engages constructively with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and makes annual contributions to its budget; the Framework for Cooperation with Russia is implemented in such areas as upholding the rule of law, promoting equality and tolerance, and developing a system of education in the human rights field. 

A fair, mutually respectful and equal dialogue is the best possible way to tackle multidimensional issues related to the promotion and protection of human rights. We are ready to pursue this goal and hope that all of you will support the candidacy of the Russian Federation for re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Enjoy the evening!