On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly will elect 18 new members to the Human Rights Council, out of 20 countries vying for spots.
A report released last week found that eight of the candidates are documented human rights abusers, while five of the candidates’ human rights records are questionable. In addition, three of the countries, China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia were named “the worst of the worst” for their human rights records.
The human rights report was published jointly by U.N. Watch and Freedom House. U.N. Watch is dedicated to monitoring the world body, and recently caught the U.N. Libyan chair cutting off the testimony of a torture victim of the Qaddafi regime at the "Durban II" racism conference in Geneva.
The U.N. Human Rights Council was created in 2006 as the successor to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which had been blasted as containing some of the world’s most repressive regimes and spending a disproportionate amount of its time criticizing Israel.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated at the time that the Commission’s “declining credibility and professionalism … cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations’ system as a whole.”
The new Human Rights Council has 47 members. To be approved for membership, a member state needs only an absolute majority of the General Assembly’s vote.
Out of the 47 members elected to the first Council in 2006, only 25 were rated as "free" by Freedom House. Nine were rated as "not free" and four were rated as the “worst of the worst” violators of human rights. The Council, like its predecessor, has also singled out Israel for censure, condemnatory resolutions, and special sessions.
Asian Group Human Rights Abusers
Countries are elected to the Human Rights Council based on their region. Israel cannot be a candidate, because the Arab states boycott it from joining the Asian group. In fact, Israel is currently prevented from being a full-fledged member of any U.N. regional group, which means it cannot participate in a host of U.N. councils.
The Asian group has five seats open in the current Human Rights Council election. Only five countries are candidates, which all but guarantees their automatic election. Out of the five, Bangladesh, China, and Saudi Arabia are considered “not qualified” based on their human rights records, while Jordan and Kyrgyzstan have “questionable records.”
According to the report, China has “a record of suppressing nearly all fundamental political rights and civil liberties.” In the Asian country “serious violations of women’s rights continue,” while “religious and ethnic minorities … were subjected to stepped-up restrictions of religious practice.”
Saudi Arabia qualified as one of Freedom House’s “most repressive societies” in 2008. In Saudi Arabia, the “government prohibits the public practice of any religions other than Islam.” In addition, “Women are not treated as equal members of society and their rights are severely limited.”
U.S. Also Up for Election, Obama Seeks Reengagement
The U.S. is also in line to become a member of the Human Rights Council. It is running for uncontested election in the Western European and Others regional group, to which Israel maintains a limited membership.
The previous Bush administration had maintained a boycott on the Human Rights Council in light of its dismal record, but newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama last month announced his intent to “reengage” the Council. His decision has been criticized by many proponents of human rights, who say it will give undue legitimacy to the flawed U.N. body.