UN to elect 14 Human Rights Council members

General Assembly of United Nations (UN) will hold an election of 14 members of the Human Rights Council (HRC) out of the 47 member states.

China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Macedonia, Maldives, France and Britain are expected to be chosen for the council in their regions. The members of the Council will serve for a period of three years and will not be eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms.

During the ballot to be held at the assembly on Tuesday, China, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam will stand as candidates for four seats which are reserved for Group of Asia-Pacific States, Russia and Macedonia for two seats for Group of Eastern European States, and France and Britain are candidates for two seats which are reserved for Group of Western European and other states.

As the number of candidates equals to that of chairs, a competition will not take place during the election. The Human Rights Council will start its yearly membership cycle on January 1, 2014.

Meanwhile, human rights institutes react to the election of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam for the council.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) made a statement reminding that the candidates - China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Algeria - did not even allow UN human rights observers who were appointed by the council to conduct inspection in their countries.

Human rights violations occurred orderly and activists were arrested in China and Vietnam, said the statement primarily demanding a rise in standards of human rights in these countries.

(2013-11-13/worldbulletin)