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UNGA elects 14 members of Human Rights Council

NEW YORK, Oct 28 (KUNA) -- UN General Assembly elected today 14 of the 47 members of the Human Rights Council (UNHRC), serving for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2017.
At the UN General Assembly hall, member states elected Egypt, Rwanda, South Africa, Tunisia China, Iraq, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Hungary, Brazil Cuba, UK and the US.
Russia lost its bid in the two vacant seats at the Eastern European States Group receiving the least number of votes. It ran against Hungary and Croatia and the latter received two more votes than Russia (114-112).
The Asia-Pacific states had four candidates - China, Iraq, Japan and Saudi Arabia running for four vacant seats, each gained more than 150 votes.
The African States had four candidates - Egypt, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia also running for four vacant seats.
As for the UK and the US both gained over 170 votes in the 193 ballot.
The Latin America and Caribbean States had three candidates - Brazil, Cuba and Guatemala, running for only two seats.
The UN Human Rights Council members shall serve for a period of three years, beginning January 1, 2017, and shall not be eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms.
The Human Rights Council 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 making recommendations to rectify or avoid them. (end) mao.bs