Saudi Arabia loses bid for a seat on UN's premier human rights body
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[October 10, 2024]
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Saudi Arabia was defeated for a seat in the U.N.’s
premier human rights body Wednesday after a campaign by rights groups
that accused the Saudis of serious rights violations.
The 193-member General Assembly elected 18 new members to serve on the
47-nation Human Rights Council, which allocates seats to regional groups
to ensure geographical representation.
The Geneva-based council reviews the human rights records of all
countries periodically, appoints independent investigators to examine
and report on issues like torture and situations in countries like North
Korea, Iran and Myanmar, and sends fact-finding missions to investigate
rights violations, including in Ukraine.
It was created in 2006 to replace a human rights commission discredited
because of some members’ poor rights records. But the new council soon
came to face similar criticism, including that countries sought seats to
protect themselves and their allies.
This year, the Asia-Pacific group had the only contested slate in the
election in the General Assembly, with six candidates for five seats.
Thailand received 177 votes, Cyprus and Qatar 167 votes, South Korea 161
votes, Marshall Islands 124 votes and Saudi Arabia 117 votes.
Before the vote, Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch,
called Saudi Arabia “unfit to serve on the Human Rights Council.”
He pointed to the rights group’s documentation of Saudi border guards
opening fire and likely killing hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and
asylum seekers trying to cross the Yemen-Saudi border in 2022 and 2023,
and the lack of accountability for the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist
Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
“Governments that commit crimes against humanity or similar atrocities
and ensure impunity for those responsible shouldn’t be rewarded with
seats on the U.N.’s top human rights body,” Charbonneau said.
Saudi Arabia’s U.N. Mission didn't respond to calls and an email seeking
comment.
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The United Nations logo is seen inside the 79th session of the
United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP
Photo/Pamela Smith, File)
A letter sent last year by Saudi Arabia’s mission to the U.N. in
Geneva said that it “categorically refutes” allegations that the
kingdom carries out any “systematic” killings on the border.
Human Rights Watch and other groups also criticized other
candidates.
United Nations Watch in Switzerland, Human Rights Foundation in the
United States and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights in
Canada called for the General Assembly to also oppose Qatar,
Bolivia, Congo and Ethiopia, declaring them “unqualified” because of
poor rights records. Human Rights Watch also cited Thailand.
But all the candidates from other regions where there were no
contested slates were elected. The 18 countries will serve
three-year terms starting on Jan. 1, 2025.
The Africa group’s Benin, Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia and Kenya won
seats. So did the Latin America and Caribbean group’s candidates
Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico and the Central and Eastern Europe
group’s candidates, the Czech Republic and North Macedonia.
The three candidates for the so-called Western and others group
known as WEOG also won easy election — Iceland, Spain and
Switzerland — after the United States announced in late September
that it wouldn’t seek a second consecutive term.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters then
that the Biden administration was engaged with its allies “about the
best way to move forward” and said Iceland, Spain and Switzerland
would be able to represent American interests and values.
Last year, Russia was defeated in its bid to regain a seat on the
Human Rights Council after it was suspended in 2022 following its
invasion of Ukraine.
In the 2022 election, Venezuela, South Korea and Afghanistan lost
contested races, but countries including Vietnam and Sudan, which
have been accused of having poor human rights records, won seats.
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