Some of the world's worst rights abusers already have seats on the UN Human Rights Council. The Philippines and Eritrea have been controversially elected to join the likes of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
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The Philippines, Bahrain and Eritrea were among the countries newly elected to the UN's Human Rights Council on Friday, drawing criticism from human rights groups and the United States.
Eighteen countries from five regional blocs were elected in an uncontested vote by the UN Security Council in New York to serve a three-year term in the 47-member council.
Human Rights Watch had called on UN members to oppose Eritrea and the Philippines because of their "egregious" human rights records. It also questioned giving Bahrain and Cameroon seats in the Geneva-based body due to "serious rights violations" in those countries.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has killed more than 4,000 people since July 2016, according to official numbers. The real death toll is likely to be nearly 12,000 people. The government has rejected criticism of the brutal crackdown and harassed UN officials who have raised the issue.
What is the UN Human Rights Council?
In 2006, the United Nations established the Human Rights Council to look into human rights violations across the globe. The council has had its fair share of controversy, mainly due to accusations of anti-Israel bias.
Promote and protect
The United Nations Human Rights Council was established in 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights. Its purpose is to promote and protect human rights around the world. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it meets three times per year — in March, June and September.
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Members worldwide
The HRC has 47 member countries, with the seats spread throughout five different global regions. The UN General Assembly elects members directly by secret ballot. Elected countries serve three-year terms, and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.
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Addressing human rights issues
The main function of the HRC is to coordinate the UN's human rights activities and promote international cooperation on human rights issues. It has mechanisms in place to process complaints submitted by individuals, groups or NGOs and investigate human rights abuses. The HRC also works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein.
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Reports and resolutions
HRC resolutions are passed as political expressions of Council members. They are not legally binding, but often carry moral weight and promote "soft law" principles. They cover human rights issues ranging from freedom of expression, to torture, poverty and justice. Resolutions can lead to the creation of a special rapporteur (e.g. in Myanmar) or inquiry committees (e.g. on Syria or North Korea).
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Controversy
In its most recent annual report in 2017, the OHCHR listed a record 29 nation states that took retaliatory action against citizens working to uncover human rights violations. Nine of those countries were actually on the Human Rights Council. Current members accused of violating human rights in the 2018 Human Rights Watch World Report are Venezuela, Rwanda, China, Saudi Arabia and the DR Congo.
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Accusations of anti-Israel bias
Israel is the only country with a dedicated item on the Council schedule. Agenda Item 7 has existed since 2007 to discuss rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Britain has called it "disproportionate and damaging to the cause of peace." Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson threatened to vote against all resolutions "unless things change." And another Council member went even further...
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United States withdraws
On June 19, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Washington was leaving the HRC; the first time a member has quit before its term was up. "For too long the HRC has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias," Haley said, citing "unrelenting bias" against Israel. A day earlier, the Council denouced the US policy of separating children from their migrant parents.
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Eritrea is one of the world's most authoritarian states and its indefinite military conscription policy has forced tens of thousands to flee the country. Rights groups say military conscription often amounts to forced labor and slavery.
Bahrain has a dismal human rights record and in Cameroon, government security forces have clamped down on the country's Anglophone region.
"Elevating states with records of gross human rights violations and abuses is a tremendous setback," said Amnesty International USA's advocacy director, Daniel Balson. "It puts them on the world stage, and moreover, it empowers them to fundamentally undermine notions of human rights that are accepted internationally."
Philippines' war on drugs — Remembering the dead
After he came to power, President Duterte unleashed a bloody campaign to fulfil his pledge of wiping out the drug trade in the country. DW spoke to some families who lost their loved ones in this controversial drug war.
Image: Raffy Lerma
Daunting challenge
Mimi Garcia holds the pictures of her son Richard and daughter-in-law Robilyn who were killed by masked vigilantes on motorbikes at their shanty home in Camarin, Caloocan city, on October 7, 2016. She faces the daunting responsibility of taking care of her two grandchildren while being jobless at the same time.
Image: Raffy Lerma
Brutal incidents
Andres Fernandez and his son Wesley rest at an altar inside the family home in Bagong Silang, Caloocan. On October 4, 2016, two armed men in masks went inside the Fernandez home and pointed a gun at Wesley. They made him kneel as Andres tried to help. They responded by shooting at Andres first before killing Wesley.
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Suspicious killings
One of the children of alleged pusher Kenneth Trasmano lights a candle during the wake of his father in Manila. Kenneth was killed in a police undercover operation after allegedly fighting back on February 2, 2018. His family and neighbors claim the police forced them to leave their homes and get out of sight, and thereafter heard the gunshots.
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Left alone
A child holds the pictures of her deceased father Joseph and grandfather Marcelo. Marcelo was killed in a police operation inside their home on July 22, 2016. Her father was rounded up and taken by the police. His lifeless body was later found "salvaged" along a roadside.
Image: Raffy Lerma
Last message
The picture shows letters written by children who have lost either one of their parents in the drug war, as part of their counselling session at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Camarin, Caloocan city.
Image: Raffy Lerma
Funeral march
Family and friends walk the funeral procession of Rogelio Gilbuena and his common law wife Jenny Royo, who were both found dead (several hours apart) in different locations in Navotas city, Manila. Prior to their death, the couple were taken from their house in Navotas by 10 men who introduced themselves as police.
Image: Raffy Lerma
Remembering the dead
Families of victims of drug-related extrajudicial killings offer flowers to their departed loved ones during the Holy Eucharistic Mass Action in Bagong Silang, Caloocan.
Image: Raffy Lerma
Calling for justice
Her husband Luis and her son, Gabriel, were killed in September 2016. During their burial, she was stoic. The days after she had laid them to rest were different. "I began looking for them and could not stop crying." MA nowadays attends protest rallies calling for a stop to drug-related killings and justice for those who have died. She hides her face as she doesn't want to be identified.
Image: Raffy Lerma
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For the first time since the council was formed in 2006, each UN voting region agreed in advance to put forward uncontested candidates, meaning they were assured a seat.
Human Rights Watch's UN director, Louis Charbonneau, said that the uncontested vote made a "mockery of [the] word 'election.'"
The United States withdrew from the council in June, calling it hypocritical and in particular citing bias against Israel.
Outgoing US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said in a statement that the absence of standards in the council "demonstrates again why the United States was right to withdraw from it earlier this year."
Burkina Faso, Somalia, Bangladesh, India, Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark were among the other countries elected to the intergovernmental rights body on Friday.
Some of the countries with heavily criticized human rights records currently on the council are China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Cuba.
The council discusses human rights issues, makes recommendations and can establish international commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions to investigate human rights abuses.
