The UN General Assembly on Tuesday elected 15 States to serve on the 47-member Human Rights Council for the 2024-2026 term.
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The decision was made by secret, direct and individual ballot of 146 member states. The States elected were: Burundi, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Malawi (for Africa); China, Indonesia, Japan and Kuwait (for Asia-Pacific); Albania and Bulgaria (for Eastern Europe); Brazil, Cuba and Dominican Republic (for Latin America and the Caribbean); France and the Netherlands (for Western Europe and other States).
Re-elected were China, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Malawi and Cuba (for the sixth time).
Russia, in the Eastern Europe group, and Peru, in the Latin America and Caribbean group, lost their candidacy. Russia failed to pass the threshold of 97 votes needed to be elected, while Peru, with 108 votes in favor, was outvoted by the other three aspirants in the group.
Ten States will leave the Human Rights Council at the end of the year: Gabon and Senegal (for Africa); Nepal, Pakistan and Uzbekistan (for Asia-Pacific); Czech Republic and Ukraine (for Eastern Europe); Bolivia and Mexico (for Latin America and the Caribbean); and the United Kingdom (for Western European and other States).
The UN Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, is an intergovernmental body charged with promoting and protecting human rights worldwide. Approximately one-third of its 47 members are replaced each year, so Council members serve staggered three-year terms for the sake of continuity.
Seats on the UN Human Rights Council are allocated according to regional groupings to encourage geographical representation. There are 13 seats for Africa, 13 for Asia-Pacific, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean, seven for Western Europe and other States, and six for Eastern Europe.