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China, Russia and Saudi Arabia set to join UN human rights council
Source: The Guardian
China, Russia and Saudi Arabia set to join UN human rights council
Rights campaigners voice concerns as Cuba and Pakistan also expected to be elected
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Mon 12 Oct 2020 12.55 BST
China, Russia, Cuba, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are expected to be elected to the board of the UN human rights council on Tuesday, leaving human rights campaigners in the countries aghast and pleading with EU states to commit to withholding their support.
The Geneva-based monitoring NGO UN Watch described the situation as the equivalent of allowing five convicted arsonists to join the fire brigade.
The UN has 15 three-year term vacancies on the 47-strong council, with the seats grouped into five regions. Due to secretive backroom deals, the only regional group in which seats are being contested is in Asiaand the Pacific, where five candidates are vying for four available seats. A candidate can only be defeated if fewer than 97 countries positively vote for them in the secret ballot at the UN general assembly in New York.
At a briefing organised by UN Watch, Yang Jianli, the president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China and a former political prisoner, said: “China was involved in the annihilation of political freedom in Hong Kong. By any standards China has grossly abused the UN human rights founding principles. If this were an election for a UN human rights abusers council, it would be more than proper to vote for China, since it leads the world in violating human rights.”
-snip-
Rights campaigners voice concerns as Cuba and Pakistan also expected to be elected
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Mon 12 Oct 2020 12.55 BST
China, Russia, Cuba, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are expected to be elected to the board of the UN human rights council on Tuesday, leaving human rights campaigners in the countries aghast and pleading with EU states to commit to withholding their support.
The Geneva-based monitoring NGO UN Watch described the situation as the equivalent of allowing five convicted arsonists to join the fire brigade.
The UN has 15 three-year term vacancies on the 47-strong council, with the seats grouped into five regions. Due to secretive backroom deals, the only regional group in which seats are being contested is in Asiaand the Pacific, where five candidates are vying for four available seats. A candidate can only be defeated if fewer than 97 countries positively vote for them in the secret ballot at the UN general assembly in New York.
At a briefing organised by UN Watch, Yang Jianli, the president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China and a former political prisoner, said: “China was involved in the annihilation of political freedom in Hong Kong. By any standards China has grossly abused the UN human rights founding principles. If this were an election for a UN human rights abusers council, it would be more than proper to vote for China, since it leads the world in violating human rights.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/12/china-russia-saudi-arabia-set-join-un-human-rights-council
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