How to Remove Russia from the U.N. Security Council

By JOEL D. JOSEPH

Article IV of the U.N. Charter provides the U.N. “is open to all peace-loving states …” Russia has proved to be a brutal warmonger: it is not a peace-loving state. It has not only invaded Ukraine, it has also invaded Georgia and Moldova as well. Russia has murdered tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and has committed massive war crimes during its unjustified invasion of Ukraine.

The United States should introduce a resolution in the Security Council calling for the removal of Russia from the Security Council. A country can be removed from the United Nations General Assembly by a vote based on the recommendation of the Security Council. The Republic of China (Taiwan) was removed from the Security Council by a vote of the general assembly.

Article VI of the U.N. charter provides, “A Member of the United Nations, which has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter, may be expelled from the Organisation by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council,”

The General Assembly should decide that Russia’s membership is invalid due to it not being a “peace-loving state.” The first and most obvious method is based on the UN charter, Article VI. Article 27 lists exceptions:

“Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting. Thus Russia cannot veto a resolution seeking its removal from the U.N. Security Council.

The “recommendation of the Security Council,” unlike “the affirmative vote of nine members,” makes no mention of unanimity, and thus that a simple majority would suffice.

Historical Precedent

The obvious historical precedent is treatment of Taiwan, the Republic of China. The Republic of China used to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council as the successor state to the unified China that existed before 1949. Then the People’s Republic of China became wealthy enough, and its control over the mainland obvious enough, that it made more sense for it to be a permanent member of the Security Council. The PRC was recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate government of China, and it received Taiwan’s seat on the Security Council, which it retains to this day. This was based on the General Assembly Resolution 2758. Not only did Taiwan lose its seat on the Security Council, but also lost its UN membership. While this transition was undoubtedly made easier by Taiwan’s claims to be the government of all of China, which clearly were not true. I think a similar form of reasoning could be used for the removal of Russia from the Security Council, that Russia clearly is not a peace-loving nation and does not meet that requirement for U.N. membership.

Article 23 of the U.N. Charter provides that China, France, the U.K., the U.S. and the Soviet Union are the five permanent members of the Security Council. Russia is not the Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin wants Russia to become the Russian Empire once again, but the U.N. was created to stop territorial expansion and wars of aggression.

The USSR was comprised of 15 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Most of these republics would now object to Russia having a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Three are NATO members: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Other former Soviet states want to join NATO, especially Ukraine, but also Georgia and Moldova.

Russia breached the U.N. charter by invading the Ukraine and should be removed from the U.N. Security Council for this illegal behaviour. We can allow Russia to remain in the U.N. General Assembly so that it can participate in debates, but it should not have veto power on the Security Council any longer.

Joel D. Joseph is a lawyer and author of 15 books, including “Black Mondays: Worst Decisions of the Supreme Court” and “Inequality in America: 10 Causes and 10 Cures.” Email joeldjoseph@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, August 1, 2024

Populist.com