2008 Elections

UN Human Rights Council

The following states were elected to three year terms in 2008:

African States	Asian States	Eastern European States	Latin American & Caribbean States	Western European & Other States
Burkina Faso	Bahrain	Slovakia	Argentina	France
Gabon	Japan	Ukraine	Brazil	United Kingdom
Ghana	Pakistan		Chile
Zambia	Republic of Korea

Sri Lanka’s Defeat a Victory for Human Rights Council: UN Vote Upholds Council Membership Standards on Rights

The Democracy Coalition Project welcomed the defeat of Sri Lanka in today’s UN General Assembly election of 15 members of the UN Human Rights Council as an important precedent for upholding basic standards for human rights. In opposing re-election, a coalition of Sri Lankan nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) said that their government has “presided over a grave deterioration of human rights protection” since winning membership, and “has used its membership in the Human Rights Council to protect itself from scrutiny.” DCP joined a coalition of NGOs from all regions of the world charging Sri Lanka with widespread disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, and a failure to cooperate with UN human rights experts. Three Nobel Peace Prize winners – Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel of Argentina, and former President Jimmy Carter of the United States – also called on UN Members to oppose Sri Lanka’s re-election bid.

“We applaud UN members for rejecting an abusive state which has used its position on the Human Rights Council not to promote human rights, but to protect itself and other violator states from scrutiny,” said Steve Crawshaw, UN Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch and spokesman for the NGO Coalition for an Effective Human Rights Council. “The defeat of Sri Lanka this year, and of Belarus last year, will help discourage other human rights violators from seeking or winning election to the council.”

Read full statement here.

DCP Joins NGO Coalition Calling on Pakistan to Make Human Rights Commitments Prior to Human Rights Council Elections

In a letter dated May 14, 2008, DCP joined 20 other international NGOs in urging UN member states to raise important Human Rights commitments with their Pakistani counterparts as they seek re-election to the Human Rights Council. The letter specifically urges that Pakistan commit to:

Supporting broad and equal attention by the Council to all serious human rights situations around the world, including through existing permanent agenda items, special sessions, new mandates, and other Council mechanisms;
Playing a constructive role in the UPR process, by conducting an equal and objective assessment of the human rights records of all states, regardless of regional, cultural, or geo-political ties;
Supporting the further strengthening of and cooperation with the special procedures, both country-specific and thematic;
Supporting the independence of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights;
Addressing the issue of discrimination and incitement to hatred in the appropriate human rights context, and ensuring that treatment of these issues does not restrict freedom of expression or infringe on the mandate on Freedom of Opinion and Expression that monitors violations of this right.

This appeal echoes an earlier April 18, 2008 letter sent by Pakistani NGOs to the Foreign Minister of Pakistan.

NGO Coalition Opposes Re-election of Sri Lanka to Human Rights Council

On May 21, 2008, the UN General Assembly will elect fifteen new members to the UN Human Rights Council. DCP, along with NGOs from around the world, is engaged in the electoral process to ensure that members of the Council meet the standards stipulated in resolution 60/251 creating the Council: namely that they have demonstrated a commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights.

In this light, DCP believes the candidacy of Sri Lanka in this election is highly problematic, given the country’s failure to protect human rights both at the domestic and international levels. In a letter dated May 6, 2008, DCP and a coalition of 26 other international NGOs urged U.N. member states to oppose the candidacy of Sri Lanka. The letter concluded that “to re-elect Sri Lanka based on its record of the last two years would weaken the Human Rights Council and indicate the international community is unconcerned with the grave human rights situation in Sri Lanka.” This appeal echoes an earlier April 28, 2008 letter sent by Sri Lankan NGOs to U.N. member states.

For more information on the NGOs for an Effective Human Rights Council and their opposition to the re-election of Sri Lanka to the Human Rights Council, click here.

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