Fact file
Pressure on to elect strong and effective Human Rights Council
The UN General Assembly will elect, in direct and individual elections and by secret ballot, 15 new members of the Human Rights Council on 21 May 2008. The Council is the principal human rights political body of the United Nations. All members of the United Nations have a duty to ensure that the Human Rights Council is a strong and effective body for the protection and promotion of all human rights in all countries. To achieve this, it is crucial that all states elected to the Council demonstrate commitment to the highest human rights standards.
Governments must put human rights at the heart of their decisions and vote only for those countries that are truly committed to promoting and protecting human rights. Nearly 20 countries have, so far, declared their candidature to the Council and, in line with current practice, all candidate countries should now submit voluntary human rights pledges.
Amnesty International does not campaign for or against individual countries, but makes information available to Member States to help inform their voting in these elections. This information includes human rights profiles of candidate countries and an overview of their election pledges for purposes of comparison.
Governments are acting on our behalf in these elections and should be aware that the world is watching these elections in the hope that truly human rights committed members are elected to serve on the Council. You can help keep the pressure up by calling on your government's representatives to the United Nations to vote to ensure a strong Human Rights Council.
Source: Amnesty International.
