Through Tuesdays repeat voting in General Assembly, Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine joined UN Human Rights Council. Trend reports Azerbaijan was selected by 103 delegations, Ukraine by 109 and Russia by 137 at minimum of 96 votes.
General Assembly took three tours to finish setup of a new agency - UN Human Rights Council. All 47 members were elected to the Council Tuesday.
The new agency represents all the regions of the world. Among Asian countries are India, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Japan. Africa is represented by Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa. Countries of Latin America are Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba. Western Europe is represented by Germany, France, UK, Switzerland, Finland and Eastern Poland, Checz Republic, Romania and Hungary.
During the voting 24 countries, including Egypt, Kenya, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Columbia, Portugal, Greece and Spain, failed to enter the Council The US delegation, among few, voted against establishment of this structure. US representatives said they are dissatisfied with the selection order that lets the countries considered violators of human rights in the US, become members of this Council. Nevertheless, the US stated their readiness to work with other member-countries to make the Council an effective and strong tool.
The decision on establishment of the Council instead of dismissed Human Rights Commission was made in September 2005 at the Summit-2005. Its work, delegates considered, was excessively politicized and not meeting the tasks in human rights protection.
First session of the Council will be held in Geneva June 19, 2006, ITAR-TASS reports.