AZERBAIJAN BECOMES UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL MEMBER – ARMENIA NOT
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 10 2006
Azerbaijan has become member of the newly established UN Human Rights
Council (HRC) for three-year term (APA).
The decision about it was adopted at the meeting of the UN General
Assembly on 9 May. Azerbaijan won 103 voices in secret voting.
Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Cuba, Mexico,
Canada, Germany and Sweden have also been elected to the Council for
three-year-term. The rest of states have been admitted to the Human
Rights Council for one or two-year term. Indonesia, Philippines, India,
Poland, Czech Republic, Argentina, Ecuador, Finland, Algeria, Tunisia,
South Africa for one year, Ghana, Zambia, Pakistan, Japan, Sri Lanka,
South Korea, Ukraine, Romania, Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, England and
France have been elected to the UN Human Rights Council for two years.
Azerbaijan’s candidacy was nominated by the Eastern Europe regional
group of the UN member states. Six countries from this subgroup have
been elected to the Human Rights Council. 13 states from African and
Asian subgroup, eight from Latin America and Caribbean, and seven
states from Western European subgroup have been elected to the Council.
44 of 63 candidates were elected. Despite its appeal for membership,
Armenia is not in the list of the newly elected members.
The international organization Human Rights Watch stated that some of
the newly elected members do not deserve this status. The organization
thinks Russia, China, Cuba, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia do not deserve
this membership.
The UN Human Rights Council, which was established instead of the
Human Rights Committee by the decision of the UN General Assembly on
11 March, will hold its first meeting in a new format in Geneva on
June 19 this year.