FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UN Human Rights Council Membership Must be Earned by Upholding Highest
Standards: Clean Slates Permitted Empty Pledges by Asian States(Geneva/Bangkok, 13 November 2012) - Yesterday’s elections of members to the Human Rights Council
by the United Nations General Assembly in New York has demonstrated the unfortunate continuation of
reproachful practices in electing Asian member States to the UN’s principal body which is responsible forpromoting universal respect for the protection of human rights, as only 5 candidates were put forward tofill the 5 vacant seats for the Asia group. “The clean-slate practice has become the rule rather than theexception. We reiterate time and again that it is contrary to the spirit of competitive elections andundermines any genuine opportunity for the UN General Assembly to select Council members based on
their demonstrated commitment to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection ofhuman rights”, stated Yap Swee Seng, executive director of Asian Forum for Human Rights andDevelopment (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organization representing 49 non-governmentalorganizations across Asia.
Japan, Pakistan and South Korea have garnered membership at the Council for 2013-2015, which has
followed from their most recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group sessions of 22 October-5
November 2012. “Civil society expects governments to engage in open and inclusive consultative processes
with stakeholders, not just during the UPR, but also in the process of drafting their voluntary pledges whenseeking Council membership. Furthermore, pledges and commitments made to the Council oninternational contributions to human rights should be based on structured and principled positions which
are inclusive of the views and expectations of civil society”, stressed Kazuko Ito, secretary-general of
Human Rights Now (HRN), Japan.
Civil society in South Korea also expressed their deep disappointment with their government’s responses
during the recent UPR, in which the government presented a skewed view of the implementation of its
human rights obligations1. “The voluntary pledges made by the government for the Council membershipare as hollow as those presented during the UPR. The government must take further efforts to ensure
realistic, measureable and time-bound concrete action points which streamline recommendations fromvarious UN human rights mechanisms”, urged Taeho Lee, secretary-general of People’s Solidarity forParticipatory Democracy (PSPD), South Korea.
Pakistan outlined in its voluntary pledges as well as during its UPR, the influential role it has played at theCouncil, particularly as the coordinator of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). “Pakistan’sredirection at the Council towards forging consensus on contentious issues such as the incitement tohatred and the right to freedom of expression must be strengthened further through principledapproaches that do not undermine existing universal human right norms and standards. Suchdevelopments at the Council should also be applied at the national level, particularly as the government isincreasingly adopting a strategy of digital censorship and surveillance in the name of safeguarding
national security, religious values and morality2”, expressed Shahzad Ahmad, country director of Bytes forAll, Pakistan.

1ndKorean NGO Coalition for the 2 Cycle of the UPR on the Republic of Korea, “Republic of Korea: Need to Show MoreCommitment to Improve Its Human Rights”, 31 October 2012, http://www.peoplepower21.org/English/965602
2Bytes for All Pakistan, “A New Wave of Surveillance in Pakistan”, 30 October 2012, http://content.bytesforall.pk/node/74
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Meanwhile, highlighting the joint letter of 35 human rights organizations dated 9 November 2012,3 which
was addressed to all candidates of the 12 November elections to the Council membership, FORUM-ASIA
once more urged that member States of the Council fully cooperate with the UN human rights
mechanisms, particularly Special Procedures, and ensure free and safe engagement of all human rights
defenders and NGOs with these mechanisms without the fear of reprisals. [END]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For further inquiries, please contact:In Bangkok, Giyoun Kim, FORUM-ASIA, Deputy Executive Director, giyoun@forum-asia.org
In Geneva, Pooja Patel, FORUM-ASIA, UN Advocacy Programme Officer, pooja@forum-asia.org

Notes to editors:
Member States of the UN Human Rights Council are elected directly and individually by secretballot by the majority of the members of the UN General Assembly. The 47 seats to the Council
are distributed as follows among regional groups: Asian States (13); African States (13); Latin
American and Caribbean States (8); Eastern European States (6); and Western European andother States (7). The members of the Council serve for a period of three years and shall not beeligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms.

The elections for 18 new members, including 5 Asian States, to the Council membership for 20132015 took place in New York yesterday on 12 November 2012. With the yesterday’s election
results - United Arab Emirates (184 votes), Kazakhstan (183 votes), Japan (182 votes), Republic ofKorea (176 votes) and Pakistan (171 votes), Asian member States sitting in the Council from 1January 2013 will be India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan,
the Philippines, South Korea, Qatar, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

When electing members of the Council, the UN General Assembly shall take into account thecontribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary
pledges and commitments made thereto. For five out of the seven elections since 2006, however,Asian States have attempted to put forward “clean slates” thereby nullifying the spirit of thecompetitive elections. The pledges made by Asian candidate States for the yesterday’s elections
are available at:Japan, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/76
Kazakhstan, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/122
Pakistan, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/486
Republic of Korea, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/355
United Arab Emirates http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/85

3Joint NGO Letter to Candidates to the Human Rights Council (on the Cooperation with Special Procedures and the Acts ofReprisals), 9 November 2012, http://www.forum-asia.org/?p=15583
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