United States Elected to UN Human Rights Council
Posted on: May 13, 2009

by Noah Shack
Government Relations Research Associate, Canada-Israel Committee

As expected, the United States was elected to the UN Human Rights Council on May 12, 2009, replacing Canada as the only North American representative to the 18 member international panel. Canada will leave the Human Rights Council with a sterling voting record, having repeatedly stood up in support of its founding principles in the face of significant anti-Israel bias.

Unfortunately, today’s vote resulted in the re-election of 13 states to an additional three-year term, including several notorious human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, suggesting the counterproductive focus of the Human Rights Council is likely to continue.

Click here to read the official UN press release on the election.