Drop Russia from UN rights council

UNITED NATIONS, United States: More than 80 human rights and aid organizations on Monday urged UN member states to drop Russia from the Human Rights Council over its military campaign in Syria. Human Rights Watch, CARE International and Refugees International were among the signatories of the appeal launched ahead of elections to fill 14 seats at the 47-nation council on Friday.

Russia, Hungary and Croatia will be running for two seats representing the Eastern European group at the council, which is tasked with addressing rights violations worldwide. The organisations urged UN member states to "question seriously whether Russia´s role in Syria -- which includes supporting and undertaking military actions which have routinely targeted civilians and civilian objects -- renders it fit to serve on the UN´s premier inter-governmental human rights institution."

Russia has been supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad´s war against opposition rebels and jihadists from the Islamic State group since September 2015. On Friday, the UN General Assembly will cast ballots to elect the members for a three-year term beginning in 2017.