(Bloomberg) -- United Nations members rejected Saudi Arabia’s bid to join the organization’s Human Rights Council amid opposition from activists who say the Gulf nation remains among the worst human rights offenders globally.
The UN General Assembly elected 18 new members to the 47-nation council on Wednesday, including Switzerland, South Korea and Ethiopia. Seats are allotted according to regional groups and most countries ran unopposed. The exceptions were what the UN calls the “Asia-Pacific” — including Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Qatar — where six countries competed for five seats.
The Human Rights Council has a long history of including members with checkered records on the very issue it’s supposed to help oversee. China and Cuba were reelected for additional three-year terms last year. Venezuela and Russia recently sat on the council.
Despite its controversial membership roster, the council has shined a light on human rights violators in some countries. A fact-finding mission established by the group found Venezuela’s government has committed crimes against humanity against dissidents following July’s contested election. Council-mandated experts also have focused on deteriorating human rights conditions in countries including Sudan and Haiti. Israel’s treatment of Palestinians also has been sharply criticized by the council over the years, bringing complaints from the US of bias against its ally.
Saudi Reputation
The vote comes as a setback for Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and his grand plan to reinvent the kingdom’s economy and open up society. The country had previously failed to join the council in 2020.
While Saudi Arabia has modernized in recent years, with the government curtailing the power of the religious police, ending a ban on women driving and encouraging female participation in the workforce, it continues to face criticism from rights experts and governments.
A Human Rights Watch report found last year that Saudi authorities used explosives and guns to kill hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross into the Gulf state. Also, Amnesty International says the nation continues to carry out an execution every two days.
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