Saudi Arabia loses bid for a seat on UN’s premier human rights body

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Saudi Arabia was defeated for a seat in the U.N.’s premier human rights body Wednesday after a campaign by rights groups urging the world body’s members to reject its bid. The 193-member General Assembly elected 18 new members Wednesday to serve on the 47-nation Human Rights Council. The Geneva-based council reviews the human rights records of all countries periodically, appoints independent investigators to examine and report on issues and countries, and sends fact-finding missions. It was created in 2006 to replace a human rights commission discredited because of some members’ poor rights records. But the new council soon came to face similar criticism, including that countries sought seats to protect themselves and their allies.