17:59 | New York (U.S.), Oct. 16.
Peru has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council after the vote by the 193-member General Assembly on Monday.
In total, the General Assembly elected, by secret ballot, 15 States to serve on the
UN Human Rights Council —the United Nations body responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.
Peru is one of the three Latin American countries —in addition to
Chile and
Mexico— to serve three-year terms starting 1 January 2018.
Out of the three, the Inca nation received the most support with 180 votes, followed by Mexico (179) and Chile (175).
Newly elected to the Geneva-based body were Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine. Qatar was re-elected for an additional term.
The 15 new members were elected according to the following pattern: 4 seats for African States; 4 seats for Asia-Pacific States; 2 seats for Eastern European States; 3 seats for Latin American and Caribbean States; and 2 seats for Western European and other States.
On the basis of equitable geographical distribution, Council seats are allocated to the five regional groups as follows: African States, 13 seats; Asia-Pacific States, 13 seats; Eastern European States, 6 seats; Latin American and Caribbean States, 8 seats; and Western European and other States, 7 seats.
The following States would continue as members of the Council: Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Japan, Kenya and Kyrgyzstan.
The list also includes Mongolia, Panama, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela.
The 15 outgoing members were Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Congo, El Salvador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal and Qatar.
In accordance with Assembly resolution 60/251, those Member States were eligible for immediate re-election except the delegation which had served two consecutive terms, namely Botswana, Congo, India and Indonesia.
Created by the UN General Assembly in March 2006 as the principal United Nations body dealing with human rights, the Human Rights Council comprises 47 elected Member States.
(END) NDP/RMB
Published: 10/16/2017