United Nations: Pakistan has failed to win a re-election to the top UN human rights body, collecting only 105 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. The Assembly elected 18 members on the UN Human Rights Council last week, through a secret ballot. Pakistan's current term will expire on December 31, for which it was seeking re-election to the 47-member Council. Sources report the loss was a major blow to the Pakistani delegation that had appeared confident about winning the seat. They have attributed the loss to the way the delegation fought the election, adding that it could not lobby effectively for the vote.
The new members, who will start their three-year terms beginning January 1 next year, are Belgium, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Kenya, Panama, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Togo, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. India is also a member of the council and its term will end in 2017. Members of the council are elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the members of the General Assembly.
Geneva-based non-governmental human rights group UN Watch welcomed the defeat of Pakistan, terming it as a “major surprise”.
