China and Cuba are among 15 countries elected this Tuesday for the 2024-2026 term of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, in a vote in which Russia failed to regain its seat.
Albania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, China, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malawi and the Netherlands were the UN member states elected to the mandate by the General Assembly (AG) this Tuesday of the United Nations.
In April last year, the UN AG had already approved a resolution suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
The resolution, presented at the time by the United States and supported by Ukraine and other allies, received 93 votes in favor, 24 against and 58 abstentions among the 193 member states of the United Nations.
In today’s elections, Russia competed with Albania and Bulgaria for two seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, representing the Eastern European regional group.
In a secret ballot, Bulgaria received 160 votes, Albania 123 and Russia 83, meaning the election failed by a wide margin.
The only other dispute in today’s elections took place in the Latin America and Caribbean group, in which Cuba, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Peru vied for three places, with Lima defeated.
The elections in the remaining groups and regions took place without competition, with China, Japan, Kuwait and Indonesia occupying the four available seats in the Asian group.
Burundi, Malawi, Ghana and Ivory Coast were chosen to fill the four African seats; and France and the Netherlands will occupy the two seats allocated to Western Europe.
Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on United Nations member states to deny Russia and China a seat on the Human Rights Council.
“Authorities in both countries have committed numerous crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations, falling far short of the standards for membership of the UN’s premier human rights body.”in a statement considered a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in New York.
In the same note, HRW also indicated that Cuba and Burundi were also seeking a three-year term on the Council despite committing “systematic human rights violations, including intimidation, arbitrary detention and torture of dissidents.”
“The delegations of the 193 countries to the General Assembly should consider the appalling human rights record of these four countries when casting their secret ballot in the elections for 15 seats on the Human Rights Council for the period 2024- 2026,” the organization noted.
“Every day, the massive abuses committed by Russia and China remind us that these countries should not sit on the UN Human Rights Council,” said Louis Charbonneau, director of the UN department at HRW, quoted in the document.
And he continued: “No country on the Human Rights Council has an unblemished human rights record, but all UN member states must recognize that the Council has membership standards that Russia and China show clear contempt for.”
Despite appeals, China, Cuba and Burundi were ultimately chosen, but Moscow failed to regain its place in the UN’s top human rights body.
According to diplomats, the United States and other countries have sent letters to many of the 193 member states of the UN General Assembly asking them to vote against Russia.
Albania’s ambassador to the UN, Ferit Hoxha, also called on those who care about human rights and “the credibility of the Human Rights Council and its work” to stand against a country that is “killing innocent people, destroying infrastructure civilians, ports and grain silos “and is proud to do so.”
Established in 2006, the Human Rights Council is the United Nations’ principal forum responsible for promoting and overseeing this area and consists of 47 member states elected by the United Nations General Assembly.
Source: DN
