United Nations member countries recently voted by secret ballot to elect 15 countries to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). Human rights observers have raised concerns about the election of China, Cuba and Russia to the body. Saudi Arabia was a candidate, but was not elected. The US withdrew from the HRC in 2018; many observers regretted the US decision to withdraw from the Council, as the US would be able to exercise more influence as a Council member. Keith Harper, the last American ambassador to the HRC and other UN institutions in Geneva, said in 2017: “We have been able to show the world the power the Council can be, and the last thing we would want to see it revert back to a place where it turns human rights on its head.” Read more coverage on the background and issues in PassBlue, the independent media outlet covering the UN.
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