Russia removed from UN rights chamber over Ukraine atrocities

The UN General Assembly has voted to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, deepening Moscow’s isolation over the apparent execution of civilians during its invasion of Ukraine.

Ninety-three nations voted to suspend Russia, 24 voted against and 58 abstained, including most Arab countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Others including Syria voted against its expulsion.

A two-thirds majority of the 193-nation UN General Assembly’s voting members was needed to remove Moscow from the Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva. Abstentions did not count.

The resolution, pushed by the US and others, called for Russia’s suspension from the chamber over reports of “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” by invading Russian forces in Ukraine.

The vote came amid global outrage over civilian killings in parts of Ukraine recently recaptured from Russian forces, like Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, including people apparently executed with their hands tied behind their backs.

Moscow strenuously denies targeting civilians and calls the scenes from Bucha a “staged provocation”. It insists that its invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, was needed to halt Nato’s expansion eastward.

Russia’s deputy UN envoy Gennady Kuzmin called the vote “illegitimate and politically motivated”.

The 47-member Human Rights Council is the UN’s top body for protecting and promoting human rights globally, through diplomatic pressure, launching investigations and appointing experts.

Before the vote, Russia urged UN members in a diplomatic note to “speak out against the anti-Russian resolution” and warned that yes votes and abstentions would represent an “unfriendly gesture” likely to affect bilateral ties.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also called for Moscow to be kicked out of the UN Security Council, where it enjoys veto powers, so “it cannot block decisions about its own aggression, its own war”.

Russia, a permanent Security Council member, was in its second year of a three-year term in the Human Rights Council. It was the first such UN power to lose its rights at a UN body.

The UN Security Council’s four other veto-wielding permanent members – Britain, China, France, and the US – all currently have seats on the Human Rights Council, which the US rejoined this year.

The UN General Assembly in March 2011 unanimously suspended Libya from the Human Rights Council because of violence against protesters by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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