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The
Moroccan candidate, Ambassador Omar Zniber, received 30 votes,
and his South African opponent, Ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi,
secured 17 in a secret ballot in Geneva.
Prior to the vote, Nkosi told Reuters that Morocco was the
"antithesis of what the council stands for" and said the
country's election would undermine the body's credibility.
Morocco, in turn, accused South Africa and some other African
states of undermining its efforts to hold the position, a
prestigious but mostly symbolic post.
"The Kingdom's election, supported by a large number of
countries around the globe in spite of Algeria's and South
Africa's efforts to counter it, demonstrates the trust and the
credibility inspired by Morocco's external actions...," the
Moroccan foreign ministry said.
The vote marks a rare public dispute in the African group whose
turn it was to lead the 47-member council. It normally strives
to take decisions as a bloc.
The dispute in part revolves around Morocco's sovereignty claim
over Western Sahara, where the Algeria-backed Polisario Front is
seeking independence. Morocco has denied allegations of rights
abuses against its opponents there.
As part of a broader strategy, Morocco has been courting
countries, including African neighbours, to build support for
its policies for the former Spanish territory.
It has failed to garner the support of South Africa, which
helped organise an event to promote self-determination for the
Sahrawi people in Geneva last year.
Rights groups say Morocco's new role should prompt it to
safeguard human rights at the highest level.
"In particular, Morocco must refrain from intimidating or
carrying out reprisals against human rights defenders engaging
with the U.N.," said Tess McEvoy, the Co-Director of the New
York office of the International Service for Human Rights
advocacy group.
The U.N. Human Rights Council, which convenes several times a
year, is the only intergovernmental global body designed to
protect human rights worldwide. It can increase scrutiny of
countries' human rights records and authorize probes.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Emma Farge in
Geneva, Ahmed El Jechtimi in Rabat; Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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