Human rights groups criticize uncontested election of 15 countries to top UN human rights body

UNITED NATIONS — Human rights organizations vociferously denounced the unopposed selection of 15 members for the United Nations' principal human rights body on Tuesday, asserting that this outcome led to nations with subpar human rights records securing seats on the council. Seats on the 47-nation Human Rights Council are apportioned to the U.N.'s regional groups to guarantee geographical representation.

For the second consecutive year, each regional group nominated an exact number of candidates for the available seats for the three-year term, resulting in uncontested elections for the 15 members during Tuesday's vote in the 193-member General Assembly. Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, remarked, "This uncompetitive vote makes a mockery of the word 'election.'

No one should have a seat on this crucial body handed to them on a silver platter." He urged U.N. member nations to "insist on competitive slates so they can reject candidates with poor human rights records." Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Burundi, all from the Africa group, were elected in Tuesday's vote. Kuwait, Nepal, Jordan, and other nations from the Asia-Pacific group were also selected.