Oleksandra Matviichuk initiated an appeal to terminate Russia’s membership in the UN General Assembly, which was supported by more than 20 diplomats from Latin America

Head of the Center for Civil Liberties Oleksandra Matviichuk sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres that Ukrainians and Latin Americans signed jointly requesting the suspension of the Russian Federation from the Assembly.

The document has already been signed by over 20  former Latin American foreign ministers, including Antonia Urrejola, Alejandro Foxley, Ignacio Walker, Mariano Fernández and Alfredo Moreno of Chile, Jorge Castañeda of Mexico, Celso Lafer of Brazil, José Antonio García Belaunde and Diego Sayán of Peru, Noemi Sanín and Guillermo Fernández de Soto of Colombia and Eduardo Stein of Guatemala. 

Many of the most prominent human right defenders of Latin America signed as well, most of whom have held significant responsibilities within the Inter-American System of Human Rights or at the UN. Claudio Grossman and Juan Mendez, legendary and courageous human right defenders against torture in the Southern Cone and later at the UN, head the list. 

“As Latin Americans, we feel particularly strongly about this. Latin America contributed significantly to the introduction of the prohibition on the use of force of Article 2.4 of the United Nations Charter and to many other developments of international law and human rights law, such as the codification of the crime of enforced disappearance in the Rome Statute. Having suffered so much ourselves, we believe norms should not be applied selectively”, – say the letter.

“Russia is trying very hard to spread the narrative that the countries of the so-called Global South supposedly sympathize with or are at least willing to turn a blind eye to war crimes in the Russian Federation. In reality, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and other Latin American countries have a remarkable history of holding those responsible for such crimes accountable and are ready to share their experience in defending international law and the interests of Latin America in the field of human rights, calling things by their proper name” – said Oleksandra Matviichuk.

The full text of the letter in English can be found via the link.