The UN General Assembly on Tuesday elected 15 new countries to
serve on the Human Rights Council, with Peru and Russia failing
to secure a seat.
After the ballots were cast and counted, Assembly President
Dennis Francis announced Albania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi,
China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Ghana,
Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malawi, and the Netherlands were
elected to serve for three years, beginning 1 January 2024.
China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, France, and Malawi were re-elected
for their second terms.
The Human Rights Council, the
UN’s premier rights body, is tasked with the responsibility to
uphold and advance fundamental freedoms globally. It was created
in 2006 and consists of 47 member States, elected via secret
ballot by the majority of General Assembly members.
In order to ensure equitable geographical
distribution, its seats are distributed among regional groups
of States as follows, from Africa (13); Asia-Pacific (13);
Eastern European (6); Latin American and Caribbean (8); and
Western European and others (7).
Details
Malawi topped the voting for African nations, with 182 votes,
followed by Côte d'Ivoire (181), Ghana (179), Burundi (168), and
Nigeria (3). In Asia and the Pacific, Indonesia secured 186
votes, followed by Kuwait (183), Japan (175), and China (154).
In Eastern Europe, Bulgaria received 160 votes, followed by
Albania (123), and Russia (83). Russia was seeking re-election to
the Human Rights Council after it resigned from the body
on 7 April 2022.
Latin America and the Caribbean saw Cuba secure 146 votes,
followed by Brazil (144), Dominican Republic (137) and Peru
(108). This is the first time Dominican Republic is elected to
the Human Rights Council.
In Western Europe and others, the Netherlands received 169 votes,
and France 153.
The new members will join Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh,
Belgium, Benin, Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, Eritrea, Finland,
Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives,
Montenegro, Morocco, Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, Somalia, South
Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, United States of America,
and Viet Nam on 1 January 2024.
