In a ‘stunning rebuke’, UN Human Rights Council rejects Saudi membership bid
Saudi Arabia failed in its bid to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday as China and Russia were elected to three-year terms.
Issued on: 14/10/2020 -
File photo of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman taken in December 2019. Saudi Arabia on Oct. 12, 2020 failed in its bid to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council. AFP - BANDAR AL-JALOUD
Text by:FRANCE 24 Follow
Human rights groups hailed the snub to Saudi Arabia, which deals a blow to the kingdom's attempts to improve its image in the international community.
"The #HRC elections today delivered a stunning rebuke to #SaudiArabia under Mohammed bin Salman," tweeted Bruno Stagno, a deputy executive director at Human Rights Watch, referring to the country's crown prince.
The #HRC elections today delivered a stunning rebuke to #SaudiArabia under Mohammed bin Salman: only country not elected, shunned by a majority of the UN. The kingdom reaped what it deserves for its serious violations of human rights and war crimes abroad. https://t.co/MArgoHfAFa pic.twitter.com/VN8jaEcRLR— Bruno Stagno (@BrunoStagno) October 13, 2020
"Only country not elected, shunned by a majority of the UN. The kingdom reaped what it deserves for its serious violations of human rights and war crimes abroad," he added.
Fifteen positions were up for grabs on the 47-seat body that has been criticised by rights organisations and the US for electing countries accused of human rights violations.
However, only four of the 15 spots were contested, all in Asia-Pacific.
In secret-ballot voting in the 193-member UN General Assembly on the race, Pakistan received 169 votes, Uzbekistan 164, Nepal 150, China 139 and Saudi Arabia just 90 votes. In 2016, the Saudis won a seat with 152 votes.
China's 139 votes was a dramatic fall from the 180 votes it received when it was last elected in 2016.
"Shows more states are disturbed by China's abysmal rights record," tweeted Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch.
Worth noting massive drop in #China's vote results today compared to 2016 election to UN #HRC. This time it got 139 votes, in 2016 got 180. Shows more states are disturbed by China's abysmal rights record.
Time for UN investigation of China abuses!https://t.co/pmKZdZ6NCs pic.twitter.com/D0D4Fke6Pn— louis charbonneau (@loucharbon) October 13, 2020
Last week, a coalition of human rights groups from Europe, the US and Canada called on UN member states to oppose the election of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, saying their human rights records make them “unqualified".
“Electing these dictatorships as UN judges on human rights is like making a gang of arsonists into the fire brigade,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
'A global pariah'
Saudi Arabia's fall from grace came two years after the the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which sparked an international cry for human rights accountability in the oil-rich Gulf nation.
"Unless Saudi Arabia undertakes dramatic reforms to release political prisoners, end its disastrous war in Yemen and allow its citizens meaningful political participation, it will remain a global pariah," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, which was founded by Khashoggi.
“Unless #Saudi Arabia undertakes dramatic reforms to release political prisoners, end its disastrous war in Yemen and allow its citizens meaningful political participation, it will remain a global pariah.” https://t.co/IuMKBEKr23— Sarah Leah Whitson (@sarahleah1) October 14, 2020
Pompeo slams vote
The controversial UN voting system sees countries strike bargains to agree on who will stand, often unopposed.
President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the council in 2018.
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"Today the UN General Assembly once again elected countries with abhorrent human rights records," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
He slammed the body's membership rules, saying they "allow the election of the world's worst human rights abusers to seats on the council".
The Geneva-based Human Rights Council can spotlight abuses and has special monitors watching certain countries and issues. It also periodically reviews human rights in every UN member country.
Created in 2006 to replace a commission discredited because of some members’ poor rights records, the new council soon came to face similar criticism, including that rights abusers sought seats to protect themselves and their allies.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
Saudi Arabia failed in its bid to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday as China and Russia were elected to three-year terms.
Issued on: 14/10/2020 -
Text by:FRANCE 24 Follow
Human rights groups hailed the snub to Saudi Arabia, which deals a blow to the kingdom's attempts to improve its image in the international community.
"The #HRC elections today delivered a stunning rebuke to #SaudiArabia under Mohammed bin Salman," tweeted Bruno Stagno, a deputy executive director at Human Rights Watch, referring to the country's crown prince.
The #HRC elections today delivered a stunning rebuke to #SaudiArabia under Mohammed bin Salman: only country not elected, shunned by a majority of the UN. The kingdom reaped what it deserves for its serious violations of human rights and war crimes abroad. https://t.co/MArgoHfAFa pic.twitter.com/VN8jaEcRLR— Bruno Stagno (@BrunoStagno) October 13, 2020
"Only country not elected, shunned by a majority of the UN. The kingdom reaped what it deserves for its serious violations of human rights and war crimes abroad," he added.
Fifteen positions were up for grabs on the 47-seat body that has been criticised by rights organisations and the US for electing countries accused of human rights violations.
However, only four of the 15 spots were contested, all in Asia-Pacific.
In secret-ballot voting in the 193-member UN General Assembly on the race, Pakistan received 169 votes, Uzbekistan 164, Nepal 150, China 139 and Saudi Arabia just 90 votes. In 2016, the Saudis won a seat with 152 votes.
China's 139 votes was a dramatic fall from the 180 votes it received when it was last elected in 2016.
"Shows more states are disturbed by China's abysmal rights record," tweeted Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch.
Worth noting massive drop in #China's vote results today compared to 2016 election to UN #HRC. This time it got 139 votes, in 2016 got 180. Shows more states are disturbed by China's abysmal rights record.
Time for UN investigation of China abuses!https://t.co/pmKZdZ6NCs pic.twitter.com/D0D4Fke6Pn— louis charbonneau (@loucharbon) October 13, 2020
Last week, a coalition of human rights groups from Europe, the US and Canada called on UN member states to oppose the election of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, saying their human rights records make them “unqualified".
“Electing these dictatorships as UN judges on human rights is like making a gang of arsonists into the fire brigade,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
'A global pariah'
Saudi Arabia's fall from grace came two years after the the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which sparked an international cry for human rights accountability in the oil-rich Gulf nation.
"Unless Saudi Arabia undertakes dramatic reforms to release political prisoners, end its disastrous war in Yemen and allow its citizens meaningful political participation, it will remain a global pariah," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, which was founded by Khashoggi.
“Unless #Saudi Arabia undertakes dramatic reforms to release political prisoners, end its disastrous war in Yemen and allow its citizens meaningful political participation, it will remain a global pariah.” https://t.co/IuMKBEKr23— Sarah Leah Whitson (@sarahleah1) October 14, 2020
Pompeo slams vote
The controversial UN voting system sees countries strike bargains to agree on who will stand, often unopposed.
President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the council in 2018.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morningSubscribe
"Today the UN General Assembly once again elected countries with abhorrent human rights records," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
He slammed the body's membership rules, saying they "allow the election of the world's worst human rights abusers to seats on the council".
The Geneva-based Human Rights Council can spotlight abuses and has special monitors watching certain countries and issues. It also periodically reviews human rights in every UN member country.
Created in 2006 to replace a commission discredited because of some members’ poor rights records, the new council soon came to face similar criticism, including that rights abusers sought seats to protect themselves and their allies.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
China, Russia elected to U.N. Human Rights Council
Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The United Nations General Assembly elected Russia, China and Cuba to the Human Rights Council on Tuesday, attracting staunch criticism from the United States which accused those nations of being some of the worst violators.
By secret ballot on Tuesday, the 193-member assembly elected 15 countries to join the 47-nation member Human Rights Council, filling seats in the five regions of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America-Caribbean and Western Europe for a three-year rotation starting Jan. 1, 2021
Russia and Cuba ran unopposed while Saudia Arabia lost in a five-nation contest for four spots in the Asia region with Pakistan, Nepal and Uzbekistan.
China, meanwhile re-gained its seat by only 139 votes, the lowest of the 15 victorious countries and a significant drop from the 180 votes it won in 2016.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lambasted the council over its selection of China, Russia and Cuba, saying it only further validates the U.S. decision in 2018 to withdraw from the governmental body.
"Today, the U.N. General Assembly once again elected countries with abhorrent human rights records, including China, Russia and Cuba," the United States' top diplomat said in a statement, adding that "the United States' commitment to human rights consists of far more than just words."
Russia hadn't been part of the Eastern European group since 2016, while China and Saudi Arabia were part of the Asia-Pacific group that served from 2017 through 2019.
The United States, which has wavered multiple times in the past about maintaining a seat on the HRC, withdrew in 2018 under President Donald Trump, accusing the council of being "hypocritical and self-serving."
Many in the human rights community have complained about China's treatment of the Uygur Muslim-minority population in its northwestern Xinjiang region, among other purported abuses.
Russia is under scrutiny over the recent poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the 2018 poisoning of a former spy and his adult daughter and its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia is under suspicion for the death of dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi, a frequent critic of the Saudi royal family. Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in Turkey in 2018, but his body has not been recovered.
Human Rights Watch Director Louis Charbonneau called on the general assembly prior to the vote to rethink its consideration of the nations.
"Serial rights abusers should not be rewarded with seats on the Human Rights Council," Charbonneau said.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of the watchdog group UN Watch, bristled at the fact that China, Russia and Saudi Arabia were being considered.
"When these dictatorships win election to the U.N.'s highest human rights body -- with the complicity of our leaders who refused to say a word -- which victims of their persecution will you be thinking about? Let's use this moral outrage to shine a spotlight on their victims," Neuer tweeted.
UN Watch is the only U.N.-accredited watchdog.
"'The situation is equivalent of allowing five convicted arsonists to join the fire brigade,'' the group added.
Following the election on Tuesday, Neuer tweeted that Tuesday was "a black day for human rights.
"The inmates are running the asylum," he said.
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