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(from my e-mail)
New York, 8 May 2006 — Elections to the Human Rights Council will be held on Tuesday 9 May 2006 at 10 am in the GA Hall. There are currently 64 candidates for 47 seats. Honduras has withdrawn its candidacy and it has been reported that Kenya also plans to withdraw its candidacy. All candidates have submitted pledges outlining their human rights commitments.
Human Rights Watch, which has launched its website analyzing candidates’ human rights records, has urged Member States not to vote for the seven following countries, based on their human rights records: Azerbaijan, China, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
As part of its Asian Campaign on the Human Rights Council, Forum-Asia has analyzed pledges submitted by 11 of the Asian candidates, noting that comparatively, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia and China have provided the lowest number of specific commitments in their pledges. Click here to download Forum-Asia’s briefing paper on Asian candidates.
Furthermore, Amnesty International has prepared a summary overview (.pdf) of pledges and commitments made by each candidate matched against the suggested elements published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The purpose of the table is to assist Member States in assessing each candidate’s proposed contribution to the Human Rights Council.
Current Candidates:
Africa (13 seats/14 candidates/14 pledges): Algeria, Cameroon, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya?, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia
Asia (13 seats/18 candidates/18 pledges): Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand
Eastern Europe (6 seats/13 candidates/13 pledges): Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Ukraine
Latin American/Caribbean States (8 seats/10 candidates/10 pledges): Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
Western Europe/Other (7seats/9 candidates/9 pledges): Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Documents and Resources:
Amnesty International: Summary overview of candidate pledges and commitments (.pdf)
Forum-Asia: Asian Campaign on the Human Rights Council
Human Rights Watch: Human Rights Council Elections
OHCHR recommendations for Voluntary Pledges
Secretariat’s Briefing on Human Rights Council Election
Secretariat’s Note on Human Rights Council Election
Amnesty International’s Guide to UN Human Rights Council Candidates
List of Candidacies, 5 May 2006
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