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U.N. Human Rights Council Members Elected

Performance of the council is what counts, U.S. Ambassador Bolton says

The General Assembly has elected 47 nations to serve on the new Human Rights Council that will replace the discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights in June.

Members include states whose poor human rights records have been criticized and examined for decades as well as others with excellent records as human rights leaders. The United States did not seek a seat on the council.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he was not surprised that "a number of countries that themselves are gross abusers of human rights got elected."

"The real performance of the Human Rights Council over a two- or three-year period is going to be what is critical," Bolton said.

Council membership is apportioned to five regional groups: 13 seats for African states, 13 for Asian states, eight for Latin American and Caribbean states, seven for Western European states and others, and six seats for Eastern European states.

The first meeting of the Human Rights Council will be held on June 19 in Geneva. The council will meet regularly, scheduling no fewer than three 10-week sessions a year and will be able to hold special sessions if needed.

Elected for one year are Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia, Bahrain, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Poland, Czech Republic, Argentina, Ecuador, Finland and the Netherlands.

Nations serving for two years are Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Zambia, Pakistan, Japan, Sri Lanka, Republic of Korea, Romania, Ukraine, Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, the United Kingdom and France.

Cameroon, Djibouti, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Bangladesh, China, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay, Canada, Germany and Switzerland will serve for three years.

In the future, nations will be elected to three-year terms of office.

Candidates submitted pledges and commitments to promote and protect human rights. According to the regulations establishing the new council, its members will be the first to have their human rights records reviewed.

THE U.S. POSITION

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Kristin Silverberg said the real test of the council will be whether it can take effective action in serious cases of human rights abuse, such as in Darfur, Burma and North Korea.

In 2006, the United States will "engage actively as observers," including lobbying for human rights resolutions, Silverberg said.

Assuming the council can work effectively, the United States plans to run for election next year, the assistant secretary said.

The United States, although it was a leading supporter of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's 2005 proposal to abolish the Commission on Human Rights and replace it with a stronger organization, voted against the creation of the council in March.

The design of the new council, U.S. officials said, did not have standards for membership that were high enough to keep human rights abusers off the council.

HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS

The reactions of human rights groups were mixed after the General Assembly vote.

Ann Bayefsky of the Hudson Institute project Eye on the UN said that 20 countries ranked "partly free" or "not free" by Freedom House are now on the council.

"Obviously a number of governments did get elected that we would prefer not to be there - China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Cuba," according to Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

"The important step is that we've made real progress. Spoiler governments who have a history of trying to undermine the protection of human rights through their membership are now a significantly reduced minority when it comes to the council," Roth said.

The fact that Venezuela and Iran did not win seats on the council and that Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Syria and Vietnam did not even try was "good news," Roth added. "That doesn't guarantee it will be a success, but it is a step in the right direction."

"The countries that have weak human rights records and are elected to the council must now start re-examining their own records and improve them and implement the pledges they have made to the General Assembly," said Yvonne Terlingen, U.N. representative for Amnesty International.

"We will closely watch to see if they do so," Terlingen said.

Source: U.S. Department of State