Image Credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Contributor / Getty 
The United Nations General Assembly voted on Thursday to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council after unverified reports claiming Russian soldiers recently slaughtered civilians in Bucha, Ukraine.
93 countries voted for the suspension, 24 voted against it and 58 nations chose not to vote.
After being accused of killing civilians in Bucha, the Russian Ministry of Defense responded by accusing the Kiev regime of staging the massacre in what they called “another provocation.”
The alleged massacre of citizens in Bucha was the tipping point for the council’s decision to remove Russia, however, the incident has yet to be investigated.
In fact, it was Russia who called for the United Nations Security Council to convene on Monday in hopes to begin an investigation into the tragedy.
“In light of the blatant provocation by Ukrainian radicals in Bucha, Russia has demanded that a meeting of the U.N. Security Council be convened,” Russian UN representative Dmitry Polyansky wrote.
The UK, which currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, refused Russia’s request and instead issued a notice for a meeting on Ukraine to be held the following day.
Russia accused the UK of violating UN Security Council procedure by rejecting the emergency meeting request regarding the Bucha event.
“When violating, go all the way – apparently, this is the rule that our British colleagues are led by. Today, they once again flagrantly violated the rules of UN Security Council procedure and denied us an emergency Security Council meeting on the Ukrainian radicals’ provocation in Bucha,” Dmitry Polyansky said.
The nation of India, which has been friendly to Russia throughout the Ukraine conflict, also called for an independent investigation into Bucha on Wednesday.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that “All the facts must be established,” regarding the Bucha incident and called for an investigation into the “horrific murders of civilians” throughout Ukraine.
"All the facts must be established."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says allies are supporting efforts for an "international investigation" into the "horrific murders of civilians" in Bucha and other parts of Ukraine.
Ukraine war latest
https://t.co/G56gb3k3lo pic.twitter.com/kkbRnnMc0R
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 7, 2022
While the group responsible for the Bucha killings is yet to be determined, the Human Rights Council continues to ignore the litany of firsthand accounts from citizens confirming war crimes committed by Ukrainian troops.
If Russians are found to have committed the atrocity in Bucha, then the UN should hold them responsible, but both nations must be held to the same standards.
Even the New York Times – an outlet running headlines like, “Satellite Images Show Bodies Lay in Bucha For Weeks, Despite Russian Claims” – admitted in a more recent article that “it may well be that investigators will find evidence of atrocities committed by Ukrainian troops against Russians or collaborators. All the more reason to conduct a thorough accounting.”
Yet, without this “thorough accounting,” Russia has been removed from the Human Rights Council in a kneejerk reaction that could be seen by the Russians as an attempt to cover up Ukrainian human rights abuses.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley agreed with the decision in a Twitter post, but noted that other human rights-violating nations like China, Cuba and Venezuela remain on the council.
A report by the now heavily-censored RT claims a neo-Nazi group called the “Botsman Boys” suspiciously arrived in Bucha soon after Russian troops left the area.
The harsh reality of war is that both sides are likely guilty of committing atrocities against the civilian population, and because of this, wide-spectrum thorough investigations must be initiated.
