UN rights body agrees to appoint expert to scrutinize Russia

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights body has voted Friday to appoint an independent expert to step up scrutiny of Russia’s rights record at home. The 47-member Human Rights Council passed the proposal on a 17-6 vote, with 24 abstentions on Friday. Shortly before the vote in Geneva, Russian human rights group Memorial was named a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. The proposal for a “special rapporteur” to keep tabs on rights violations in Russia amid the war in Ukraine was presented by all European Union members except Hungary. Russia’s ambassador called it a “despicable document” that was intended “to find yet another way of exerting leverage for bringing pressure to bear on Russia.”