Venezuela wins seat on UN Human Rights Council despite opposition

[Alan]

Venezuela won a contested election for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday despite a campaign by over 50 organizations and many countries opposed to Nicolas Maduro's government and its rights record. There was scattered applause in the General Assembly chamber when its president announced the results of the voting for two Latin American seats.

Brazil topped the ballot with 153 votes followed by Venezuela with 105 votes and late entry Costa Rica with 96. The 193-member world body elected 14 members to the 47-member Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting Jan. 1. Under its rules, seats are allocated to regions to ensure geographical representation. In other contested races, Iraq lost out in the Asian group contest for four seats to Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the Marshall Islands, and Moldova lost in the Eastern Europe group race for two seats to Armenia and Poland.

Africa had four countries on the ballot — Benin, Libya, Mauritania and Sudan — for four seats. But when General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande announced the results the winners were Namibia, Libya, Mauritania and Sudan, with Benin getting just one vote.
There was no competition for the two Western group seats and Germany and the Netherlands were overwhelmingly elected. The Geneva-based Human Rights Council can spotlight abuses and has special monitors watching certain countries and issues. It also periodically reviews human rights in every UN member country.

Created in 2006 to replace a commission discredited because of some members' sorry rights records, the new council soon came to face similar criticism.The Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, led by former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler, released a statement last week urging the council to reject Venezuela, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania and Sudan, given their human rights records.

Cotler, though, expected Venezuela to get approval.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/venezuela-seat-un-human-rights-council-1.5324680

 

[Alan]

Geneva, Switzerland, Oct 16, 2019 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- Mauritania, the west African nation where slavery remains a widespread practice, is expected to be voted on to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council on Thursday.


According to its website, the UNHRC is “an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.”

Mauritania made slavery illegal in 1981, but did not criminalize the practice of owning slaves until 2007. It was the last country to abolish slavery. According to a 2012 CNN report, only one slave owner had been prosecuted for owning another human being since the practice was made illegal.

While the Mauritanian government officially denies that slavery is ongoing in the country, Mauritanian watchdog groups allege that one out of every two members of the country’s Haratine ethnic minority group are enslaved, and that as many as 20% of the population is enslaved. The exact number of slaves within the country is unclear, and estimates range from 90,000 to 500,000. The Global Slavery Index estimates more than 140,000 people are currently enslaved in the country.

Slavery in the country is most often found being enforced on farms and in homes. According to media reports, slave owners give away people as gifts, and enslaved women are regularly sexually assaulted by their owners.

In addition to slavery, Mauritania is subject to a range of other human rights concerns. The United Nations estimates that over one third of Mauritanian women are married before they reach the age of 18, and female genital mutilation is commonplace. Sex outside of marriage is not legal in the country, and women who were raped can face prosecution if they report their assault to the police.

UN set to elect slave state to human rights council

Mauritania, the west African nation where slavery remains a widespread practice, is expected to be voted on to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council on Thursday.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

 

[konfab]

Honk honk

 

[Jopie Fourie]

Guess what the UN is turning into.... time to close it down. It served its purpose.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Guess what the UN is turning into.... time to close it down. It served its purpose.

You need to be a bit more open minded with your solutions to things Loulou... Closing everything down seems to be your default response...

 

[Nanfeishen]

Human rights is a joke , it is nothing more than a convenient political tool to be hauled out from time to time to illicit change or to back claims of alleged abuse for when the powers that be decide some or other country needs a regime change or "reforms" because the leader is getting too uppity.

 

[Jopie Fourie]

You need to be a bit more open minded with your solutions to things Loulou... Closing everything down seems to be your default response...

But why? If it does not work, there is no need trying to fix it.

 

[ToxicBunny]

But why? If it does not work, there is no need trying to fix it.

So in your opinion nothing that is broken ever needs to be fixed? Just shut it down or throw it away...

 

[Gnarls]

So in your opinion nothing that is broken ever needs to be fixed? Just shut it down or throw it away...

Nice strawman. He's talking specifically about the UN.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Nice strawman. He's talking specifically about the UN.

Go read his posts on a variety of institutions... His solution to everything is to shut it down.

 

[Gnarls]

Go read his posts on a variety of institutions... His solution to everything is to shut it down.

Fair point.

 

[Tokolotshe]

But why? If it does not work, there is no need trying to fix it.

Perhaps it fails in many areas, I'll even support that position, yet it actually does do a good job in others. Yes, I know I admitted it ...

 

[Jabulani22]

The UN is too far gone , letting actors and children speak , but dismissing facts regarding imminent and underway genocides , for shame .
Let the politicians be out of jobs , let the allies of various nations assist when things are going awry.

 

[Grant]

But why? If it does not work, there is no need trying to fix it.

Hang on a sec.

But then, if it does work then there is need to fix it?

Or,

if it's not broken, don't fix it..



Nee v0k jopie