Human rights organizations have sharply criticized the election of 15 members to the United Nations' top human rights body in an uncontested vote, arguing that the mechanism allows countries with poor human rights records to win seats.
The 193-member General Assembly voted on Tuesday. Seats on the 47-nation Human Rights Council are allocated by UN regional group to ensure geographic representation. For the second consecutive year, all regional groups put forward exactly the number of candidates as there were open seats for the three-year term, resulting in uncontested races.
"This uncontested vote makes a mockery of the word 'election,'" said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch. "No one should be handed a seat on this important body so easily," Charbonneau said, calling on UN member states to "insist on competitive slates so that candidates with poor human rights records can be voted out."
In Tuesday's vote, the African group elected Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Burundi. The Asia-Pacific group elected Kuwait, Nepal, Jordan and Japan. The Latin American and Caribbean group elected Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay. The mainly Western group elected Ireland and Germany, while the Central and Eastern European group elected Moldova and Ukraine.
The Geneva-based council periodically reviews the human rights records of all countries, appoints independent investigators to report on issues such as torture and the situations in countries including North Korea, Iran and Myanmar, and sends field missions to investigate human rights violations, including in Ukraine, the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, and Sudan.
The council was created in 2006 to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission, whose membership had included several countries with poor human rights records. But the new council soon faced similar criticism, including allegations that countries sought seats to shield themselves and their allies.
Shortly after the start of his second term, US President Donald Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the Human Rights Council, accusing it of bias against Israel. He also pulled the US out of the council during his first term.
Asked about the UN's view of the uncontested vote, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said it was a matter for the 193 member states. "But what we have always said is that member states elected to the organization's highest human rights body have an added responsibility to protect human rights," he said.
