The 193-member UN General Assembly also elects Ivory Coast, Gabon, Malawi, Cuba, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, France and Britain to the 47-member council. Senegal, Nepal, Pakistan, Ukraine and Mexico were re-elected for a second three-year term.
China and Russia have been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, while Saudi Arabia failed in its bid to win a
seat on the Geneva-based body.
The 193-member UN General Assembly also elected Ivory
Coast, Gabon, Malawi, Cuba, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, France and
Britain to the 47-member council. Senegal, Nepal, Pakistan,
Ukraine and Mexico were re-elected for a second three-year term.
Council members cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.
Candidates are elected by secret ballot in geographical
groups to ensure even representation. The Asia-Pacific group,
which included Saudi Arabia, was the only competitive race on
Tuesday with five candidates vying for four seats. The new
members will begin their term on January 1, 2021.
“Saudi Arabia’s failure to win a seat on the Human Rights
Council is a welcome reminder of the need for more competition
in UN elections. Had there been additional candidates, China,
Cuba and Russia might have lost too,” said Human Rights Watch
UN director Louis Charbonneau.
READ MORE: China, Russia and Saudi Arabia set to join UN Human Rights Council
Saudi Arabia received 152 votes when it was last elected in
2016 to be a council member from 2017 to 2019, but on Tuesday
only 90 states voted for Riyadh – a 40 percent drop.
While China
was elected on Tuesday with 139 votes, its support fell more
than 20 percent compared to the last time it won a seat in 2016.
Both countries have been criticised internationally for
their human rights records. Most recently China has been
condemned by Western countries for its treatment of Uighur
Muslims in the country’s Xinjiang region and the handling of anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong.
US President Donald Trump’s administration quit the Human
Rights Council in 201 – half way through its term – over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform.
READ MORE: UN rights body to debate ‘systemic’ US racism at African nations’ plea
Russia was elected on Tuesday four years after it was
surprisingly ousted after one term, losing by two votes. Former
US Ambassador Samantha Power, under President Barack Obama,
revealed last year in her memoir that she had been directed by
Washington to vote for Russia in the secret ballot, but did not.
“Too much had happened since I arrived at the UN not to vote my conscience,” Power wrote, referring to Russia’s backing of the Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad, annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
READ MORE: Does France deserve to have a seat on the Human Rights Council?
Source: Reuters