Getting off the fence

If we're serious about prosecuting Russia's war crimes, we need to get serious about America's as well

Edited by Sam Thielman

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Yesterday, the U.N. General Assembly voted to kick Russia off the Human Rights Council. This was a somewhat symbolic but necessary move, given the mounting catalog of indiscriminate murder, rape, and other Russian atrocities in Ukraine. I say symbolic not because the council is powerless — it is currently overseeing an investigation that would become a centerpiece of any future war crimes trial if one ever happens (more on that shortly) — but because Russia was already severely outvoted. Still, the boot was, as the U.S. delegation keeps crowing, largely unprecedented.

But after the Americans get done with their victory lap, they might want to take a look at the specifics of the vote. While 93 countries voted for Russia’s removal from the council, 24 voted against it, while 58 others abstained. That is narrower than the much-vaunted vote just over a