Details
• The 18 new members were elected by absolute majority through a secret ballot.
• Countries needed a minimum of 97 votes to get elected to the Council.
• India was vying for a seat in the Asia Pacific category. Along with India, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji and Philippines had also staked a claim in the same regional group.
• In the Asia Pacific category, India got 188 votes followed by Fiji with 187 votes, Bangladesh 178, Bahrain and Philippines 165 each.
• India got the highest number of votes among all 18 countries in the five regional categories.
Other details
• India had previously been elected to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for the 2011-2014 and 2014-2017 term.
• Its last tenure had ended on December 31, 2017 and in accordance with the rules, it was not eligible for immediate re-election since it had already served two consecutive terms.
Some facts:
• Created by the Assembly in March 2006 as the principal United Nations body dealing with human rights, the Human Rights Council comprises 47 elected Member States.
• On the basis of equitable geographical distribution, Council seats are allocated to the five regional groups as follows: ▪African States, 13 seats
▪Asia Pacific States, 13 seats
▪Eastern European States, 6 seats
▪Latin American and Caribbean States, 8 seats
▪Western European and other States, 7 seats.
• The new members elected are:
▪Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eritrea, Somalia and Togo in the African States category
▪Bulgaria and Czech Republic in the Eastern European States group
▪Argentina, Bahamas and Uruguay in the Latin American and Caribbean States group
▪Austria, Denmark and Italy in the Western European and other States category.
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