Associated Press UNITED NATIONS: Egypt, Angola and Qatar easily won seats on the council despite opposition from human rights groups that said they did not deserve a spot on the council because of their bad human rights records. Belarus was defeated for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday after a campaign by the United States, key European countries and human rights groups against the former Soviet republic s repressive rights history. The 192-member General Assembly also elected Bolivia, Bosnia, India, Indonesia, Italy, Madagascar, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Slovenia and South Africa to three-year terms on the 47-member council. The Human Rights Council was created in March 2006 to replace the widely discredited and highly politicized Human Rights Commission, and one aim was to keep some of the worst human rights offenders out of its membership. But it has been widely criticized in its first year for failing to change many of the commission s practices, including putting much more emphasis on Israel than on any other country. The United States was virtually alone in voting against the establishment of the council, arguing that the new body was only marginally better and would not prevent rights-abusing countries from membership. Nonetheless, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad called Bosnia s victory over Belarus heartening, noting that some have called Belarus the last dictatorship in Europe. This bodes well for the reform of the Human Rights Council that is very much needed and I look forward to working with everyone in the United Nations who is involved in that goal, Khalilzad said. He refused to comment on the human rights records of Angola, Egypt and Qatar, saying only that he congratulated all the winners. Steve Crawshaw of Human Rights Watch, which had urged UN members to oppose Belarus, also praised Bosnia s victory in a second round of balloting as an important signal to the future that abusive governments will not be acceptable as council members. President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than a decade, quashing dissent and opposition groups. Last year, the United States and the European Union slapped travel sanctions on him and other top government officials. Initially, there were two candidates for two East European seats - Belarus and Slovenia - but diplomats said the US, Britain and France, who strongly oppose Belarus, pressed for Bosnia to enter the race as well. In the first round of voting, the slates for African, Asian, and Latin American seats were uncontested, and all 10 candidates topped the minimum 97 votes needed with large majorities. In the contested races, Slovenia won in Eastern Europe but Bosnia fell two votes short and Belarus trailed. In the Western group, the Netherlands won but Denmark and Italy tied with 114 votes apiece. In the second round of voting, Bosnia easily defeated Belarus by a vote of 112 to 72 and Italy defeated Denmark by a vote of 101 to 86. Bosnia s UN Ambassador Milos Prica called the victory a huge achievement for a country that suffered horrific, horrible violations of human rights during the 1992-95 war. Bosnia has gradually but substantially improved its human rights record and looks forward to share lessons learned from the war while on the council, he said. Before the vote, General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa asked members to consider the human rights records of the candidates. Nineteen human rights groups and organizations appealed to the General Assembly on Monday not to accept Egypt. Earlier this month, a report by two watchdog groups, UN Watch and Freedom House, said Angola, Belarus, Egypt and Qatar are authoritarian regimes with negative UN voting records (on rights issues) and are not qualified to be council members. The Geneva-based council is composed of regional groups that give dominance to Africa and Asia, each with 13 countries. If they vote as a 26-member bloc, they have an automatic majority. Western Europe and North America together are represented by seven countries Last year, the council adopted eight resolutions criticizing Israel for its military actions in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon. The only other country to be criticized was Sudan. Censure by the council brings no penalties beyond international attention, but countries lobby hard to avoid scrutiny. Crawshaw, of Human Rights Watch, said the Human Rights Commission in effect became the abusers club because abusive governments were eager to be part ... in order to block action on themselves and on countries elsewhere. The defeat of Belarus shows that this Human Rights Council is not one which can just be a collection of abusive governments, he said.
