More Serial Human Rights Abusers Elected to UN Human Rights Council

By Joseph Klein, Canada Free Press | 

The United Nations General Assembly on Monday elected 15 member states to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2018-2020 term, including such notorious human rights abusers as Qatar, Angola, Pakistan, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Member states considered eligible for membership on the Human Rights Council are theoretically supposed to be able to demonstrate their commitment to the highest standards of human rights and their full cooperation with all UN mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Special Procedures and treaty bodies and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. These countries fall woefully short of such standards.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the “election is yet another example of why the Human Rights Council (HRC) lacks credibility and must be reformed in order to be saved.” She added, “Countries that aggressively violate human rights at home should not be in a position to guard the human rights of others. We need a unified voice of moral clarity with backbone and integrity to call out abusive governments. This election has once again proven that the Human Rights Council, as presently constituted, is not that voice.”

As an example of a country that does not belong on a credible human rights body, yet ran unopposed for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Ambassador Haley pointed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  She described the DRC as “a country infamous for political suppression, violence against women and children, arbitrary arrest and detention, and unlawful killings and disappearances.”

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