The Council has 47 members elected by the General Assembly and it is responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world and dealing with violations.
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“Lana Nusseibeh, the Permanent Representative of UAE to the United Nations, welcomed the UAE win, saying:” This is yet another milestone for the UAE’s diplomacy and a testimony from the global community of the great achievements made by a country that is small in size but large in its contributions to, and records in human rights”.
The loss came as a huge shock to the Pakistani delegation that had appeared confident of winning the seat as the country has served three terms on the Council.
On the basis of equitable geographical distribution, Council seats are allocated to the five regional groups as follows: African States, 13 seats; Asia-Pacific States, 13 seats; Eastern European States, 6 seats; Latin American and Caribbean States, 8 seats; and Western European and other States, 7 seats.
Burundi, Belgium, Ecuador, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Panama, Philippines, Slovenia, Switzerland and Togo were elected to three-year terms beginning January 1.
The United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Germany, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Korea, whose terms were due to expire at the end of the year, were also re-elected. Pakistan and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, with 105 votes each, could not get elected.
“It’s a black day for human rights”, said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.
According to a report by UN Watch, Human Rights Foundations, and the Lantos Foundation, Pakistan, UAE, Burundi and Ecuador were cited by human rights groups for having committed serious violations of numerous articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including curbs on the freedoms of speech, press, religion, and assembly, along with disregard for fundamental due process.
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The candidate countries were also found to have voted against United Nations resolutions taking action for victims of human rights abuses in various hotspots, United Nations watch said.
