UNITED NATIONS — Human rights groups criticized Tuesday’s uncontested election of 15 countries to the U.N. Human Rights Council, saying it handed seats to nations with poor rights records, The Associated Press reported via KTAR News.
For the second straight year, every regional group nominated exactly as many candidates as there were open seats on the 47-member body, leaving no competitive races in the 193-member General Assembly.
“This uncompetitive vote makes a mockery of the word ‘election,'” said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch.
Elected were Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Burundi from Africa; Kuwait, Nepal, Jordan and Japan from Asia-Pacific; Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay from Latin America; Ireland and Germany from the Western group; and Moldova and Ukraine from Eastern Europe.
Human Rights Watch singled out Burundi, saying it has not carried out meaningful reform, and said Nigeria should ensure accountability for abuses during its conflict with Boko Haram.
The United States withdrew from the council after President Donald Trump began his second term, accusing it of anti-Israel bias.
Sources: Associated Press via KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: The White House from Washington, DC / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
