In the UN Human Rights Council Appeared Countries Violating Those Rights

• 11.01.2016, 15:58
•  Near East,  World

The Independent

As a result of a vote by the UN General Assembly, 14 members were elected to the UN Human Rights Council for three-year term, and will assume their new functions on January 1. From African Group the Council includes Egypt, Rwanda, Tunisia and South Africa, from Asia-Pacific Region (APR) it includes Iraq, China, Saudi Arabia and Japan, from Latin American countries – Brazil and Cuba.  Hungary and Croatia were chosen from the group of Eastern European countries, while the US and UK – from Western European and other countries.

It should be noted that the Human Rights Council is an international human rights body within United Nations system. 47 countries are represented in the Council, according to regional groups. They should form an official position of the UN in conflicts around the world, as well as on internal political developments in member countries. The countries are chosen by the General Assembly with three-year term. Each country may be selected for only two times.

Given the Council's character, the appearance of a number of countries in it as a result of these elections, particularly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and China, raised a serious criticism by the international community, particularly the non-governmental human rights organizations, as these countries have traditionally been known as human rights violators.

A special scandal arouse around Saudi Arabia election. In particular, Iran's Foreign Ministry criticized the UN for being politically motivated when electing Saudi Arabia. "Some countries, such as Saudi Arabia elected to UN Human Rights Council, best show that international human rights instruments are used only in accordance with political interests," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.

It should be mentioned that the human rights organizations also referred to the selection of Saudi Arabia. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International draw attention to Saudi Arabia's violence in Yemen. Besides, Saudi Arabia is in the first place by the number of executions in the country.