Liquor stores were opened, dancing and singing were organized…yet the stain of Saudi Arabia is not washing away.
Despite Saudi Arabia's many efforts, it has not been able to get a place in the UN's human rights organization. On Wednesday, 193 countries of the United Nations General Assembly elected 18 new members for the 47-member Human Rights Council. However, Saudi Arabia has not been able to get a place in it from the Asia Pacific region.
In fact, regional groups are given a place in the Human Rights Council to determine geographical representation. If there are more candidates from a region than the number of seats, they are selected through voting. This time, among the 18 new members, there were 5 seats for the Asia Pacific region, but 6 countries, including Saudi Arabia, had claimed it.
Saudi administration's efforts fail.
On the other hand, some human rights organizations had launched a campaign accusing Saudi Arabia of a serious violation of rights, after which it failed to make it to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday. Actually, Saudi Arabia has been constantly accused of violating human rights. However, for the past few years, the Saudi administration has been trying to improve its image. This year, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the opening of the first liquor shop in the capital Riyadh.
Apart from this, women were given the right to drive, not only this, music concerts were organized against Islamic tradition and law, which was criticized a lot in the Muslim world. Saudi is also going to host the biggest football event, FIFA World Cup, in 2034.
UN director criticized Saudi Arabia
Despite all these efforts, it has not been able to get a seat in the UN's human rights organization. Before the voting, the UN director criticized Saudi Arabia. He said that Saudi Arabia is not eligible to work for the Human Rights Council.
He referred to reports compiled by human rights organizations. These reports mention open firing by Saudi border guards, killing hundreds of Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers on the Yemen-Saudi border in 2022 and 2023. Apart from this, the lack of accountability in the case of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi High Commission in Istanbul in 2018 has also been documented.
The UN director at HRW said, 'A government that commits crimes against humanity or similar atrocities and seeks to protect the perpetrators from punishment should not be given a place in the UN's most prominent human rights organization.'
There has been no response from Saudi Arabia's UN mission on these allegations of the UN director. However, last year, such allegations were denied in a letter sent by Saudi Arabia to the United Nations.
Saudi Arabia got the least votes
This year, only 6 countries of the Asia Pacific Group contested for 5 seats in the United General Assembly to get a place in the Human Rights Council. Out of these, Thailand got 177 votes, Cyprus and Qatar got 167 votes, South Korea got 161 votes, and the Marshall Islands got 124 votes, these five countries will now be a part of the Human Rights Council. Whereas Saudi Arabia got 117 votes due to which it could not become a member of this organization once again.
18 new members elected to UNHRW
Apart from this, 13 countries were selected from the rest of the regions without any competition. Overall, the three-year term of 18 new members will begin on January 1, 2025. Benin, Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, and Kenya have got a place in it from Africa. On the other hand, Bolivia, Colombia, and Mexico from the group of Latin America and Caribbean countries managed to become a part of it. On the other hand, the Czech Republic and North Macedonia from Central and Eastern Europe have become members of this organization.
Apart from this, Iceland, Spain, and Switzerland have got a place from the Western and Rest Group, known as WEOG, because America had announced in late September that it did not want a second term in this council.
Why is the Human Rights Council necessary?
This Geneva-based organization of the United Nations monitors human rights cases in countries around the world. It appoints independent investigators in countries like North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar and issues reports about oppression and conditions there. This organization sends fact-finding missions to countries like Ukraine to investigate cases of human rights violations.
The United Nations Human Rights Council was established in 2006. The Human Rights Commission was replaced by the UNHRC due to the poor record of some of its members. Although this new council has also been criticized, it is believed that some countries want to be a part of it to protect themselves and their allies.