NEW YORK, 07 April 2022, (TON): The UN General Assembly will vote on whether to suspend Russia from the UN’s premier human rights body.

The move was initiated by the United States in response to the discovery of hundreds of bodies after Russian troops withdrew from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, sparking calls for its forces to be tried for war crimes.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the call for Russia to be stripped of its seat on the 47-member Human Rights Council in the wake of videos and photos of streets in the town of Bucha strewn with corpses of what appeared to be civilians.

The videos and reporting from the town have sparked global revulsion and calls for tougher sanctions on Russia, which has vehemently denied responsibility.

Thomas-Greenfield said “we believe that the members of the Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine, and we believe that Russia needs to be held accountable.”

He said “Russia’s participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce.”

General Assembly spokeswoman Paulina Kubiak said “the assembly’s emergency special session on Ukraine will resume at 10 a.m.”