The General Assembly today elected 18 countries to serve on the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting next month, including – for the first time – Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway and the United States.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the announcement by the United States that it will seek a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, saying it embodies the country’s commitment to a “new era of engagement.”
Having completed the review of another 16 countries, the United Nations Human Rights Council is now one-third of the way through to reviewing the human rights records of all 192 Member States of the Organization, according to the President of the Geneva-based body.
Nearly three years since its creation, more patience is needed in judging the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is still in an “evolutionary” stage, the body’s President told the General Assembly today.
The United Nations Human Rights Council ended its ninth session in Geneva today with the adoption of 24 texts, including a decision to extend until June 2009 the mandate of its Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan.
