Belarus, one of the world's most repressive states, was blocked on Thursday from gaining membership on the UN Human Rights Council after being outvoted in favor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a late entry.
Human rights groups had campaigned for weeks to head off the once seemingly assured choice of Belarus after the Eastern European group submitted only Belarus and Slovenia as candidates for the two seats from its region. Western countries persuaded Bosnia to enter last week, then lobbied General Assembly members vigorously to reject the bid by Belarus.
In the first round of voting, Slovenia won handily. Bosnia came in second and Belarus third, setting up a runoff that secured Bosnia's position. The decision avoided what would have been a serious embarrassment for the rights council, which in the past has inspired scorn for permitting countries like Cuba and Libya as members.
In its first year, the council has been criticized for its performance, especially for devoting its energies to denouncing one country, Israel, while bringing no action in cases like Darfur.
The US decided not to be a candidate for the council last year and again this year, saying it thought the body, while better than its predecessor, fell short of being credible and effective. There was also concern that given the hostility in the UN to US actions in Iraq, the US might not win a place if it ran.
Steve Crawshaw, the UN advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said his group had been particularly galvanized by the prospect of Belarus on the council.
"Belarus' track record is frankly appalling," he said. "It has no real civil society, no freedom of expression; its elections have been deemed absolutely not to be free or fair. There is no breathing space, and the UN special envoy to Belarus has been blocked from visiting the country."
Thursday's election in the General Assembly chose 14 new members for the Human Rights Council, which has 47 members and was formed last year to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission.
The countries elected were Angola, Bolivia, Bosnia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Italy, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Qatar, Slovenia and South Africa.
The only other contested race was for one of the Western European seats, where Italy defeated Denmark in a runoff.
Earlier this month, two watchdog groups, UN Watch and Freedom House, expressed disapproval of Angola, Egypt and Qatar, which won seats on Thursday. All of them, the two groups said, "are authoritarian regimes with negative UN voting records on rights issues and are not qualified to be council members."
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS