HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: UN SECRETARIAT BRIEFS ON

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000832 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KUNR UNGA SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: UN SECRETARIAT BRIEFS ON UPCOMING ELECTIONS ¶1. SUMMARY. The GA Secretariat and Office of Legal Affairs provided a briefing April 19 on plans and preparations for the May 9 election of members of the Human Rights Council (HRC). The Secretariat reiterated that the HRC elections will provide for each candidate to be voted directly and individually by secret ballot, with all vacancies balloted regardless of whether or not there are regional clean slates. Despite concerns voiced by several states that the regional groups' slates should be shown on the ballot, the Secretariat confirmed that GA members will need to write in their choices. Candidates can include any member state from a pertinent region even if a member has not declared its candidacy. There is no restriction planned on the number of ballots that may be held on May 9 and subsequently before the HRC terms begin on June 19, as long as the GA President determines progress is being made. The drawing of lots for the staggering of initial terms will take place immediately following the election. The Secretariat circulated a list of candidatures that have been declared to the United Nations, and noted that the UN will translate and prepare as official UN documents the voluntary pledges and commitments that HRC candidates present before May 1. END SUMMARY. ¶2. On April 19, the GA Secretariat and Office of Legal Affairs provided a briefing on plans and preparations for the May 9 election of members of the Human Rights Council (HRC). Officials outlined the provisions contained in the HRC resolution itself (A/Res/60/251) and in the Secretariat information note regarding the election (A/INF/60/6) and answered numerous questions posed by delegations. VOTING PROCEDURES AND BALLOTING ¶3. The Secretariat reiterated that the HRC elections will provide for each candidate to be voted directly and individually by secret ballot, with all vacancies balloted regardless of whether or not there are regional clean slates. In order to be elected, a Member State would need to obtain votes from the majority of the members of the General Assembly (absolute majority of 96 votes). Consistent with GA practice, if a greater number of Member States than available vacancies for the region obtain the required majority on the same ballot, those Member States which have obtained the largest number of votes above the required majority will be considered as elected, up to the number of seats to be filled. The elections will be held in accordance with the relevant GA Rules of Procedure on elections, rules 92 to 94. ¶4. As the Secretariat explained, given that the resolution provides that membership shall be open to all States Members of the United Nations, no nomination or endorsement by regional groups is necessary, and there is no cut-off date for a Member State to announce its candidacy. Despite concerns voiced by several states (particularly from the African Group, whose group members have said expects to present a clean, endorsed regional slate) that the regional groups' slates should be shown on the ballot, the Secretariat said that ballots for each region will include only blank lines equal in number to the number of vacancies for that region. GA members will need to write in their choices, which can include any member state from a pertinent region, even if a member has not declared its candidacy. The Secretariat agreed that the regional group's nominations SIPDIS could be informally circulated during this process. ¶5. Also with regard to balloting, the GA Secretariat advised that the first round of voting will be open to all Member States in the region, regardless of whether their candidature had been announced in advance. In the next two rounds, voting would be restricted to the top vote-getters up to twice as many candidates as remaining seats to be filled (e.g. if there are 2 remaining vacancies, 4 candidates could remain on the ballot; if there are 3 vacancies, 6 candidates could remain on the ballot). After three rounds, the Secretariat said, the balloting would again be opened to all SIPDIS Member States of the region to fill the remaining seats. Balloting would continue until all the seats are filled. The Secretariat noted that this procedure for restricted and SIPDIS unrestricted ballots is pursuant to Rules 92 to 94 of the GA Rules of Procedure. ¶6. In response to questions, the Secretariat confirmed that there is no restriction planned on the number of ballots that may be held on May 9 and subsequently before the HRC terms begin on June 19, as long as the GA President determines progress is being made. They also confirmed that the HRC may convene its work even if not all 47 members have been elected by June 19. A quorum of one-third of the 47 members suffices to convene a session, while one-half of the 47 members would be required to take decisions. Responding to a question, the Secretariat also stated its expectation that terms for HRC members will follow the pattern set for this year, with terms beginning (approximately) on June 19. ¶7. The drawing of lots for the staggering of initial terms will take place immediately following the election. The President of the GA will conduct the drawing of lots by region as part of a GA meeting. In response to a question from Japan, the Secretariat confirmed that regardless of whether the first term is 1, 2 or 3 years, it will be considered a full term. (Note: According to the HRC resolution, after two consecutive terms, a Member State is not eligible for immediate re-election. End Note.) ANNOUNCED CANDIDATURES: ¶8. The Secretariat circulated, as an informal document, a list of candidatures of which the United Nations has been notified. A number of delegations noted that while they had announced their candidatures, their countries were not reflected on this list. The Secretariat promised to update the UN website on the HRC election (www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc) with this information. Including announcements made at the meeting, the UN lists of candidates for each region include the following Member States: African Group (13 seats): Algeria, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Zambia, Cameroon, Gabon, South Africa (Note: Interventions by several African group Member States indicated the intention for the group to reach consensus on a list of candidates for each sub-region and the African region as a whole, with the full regional list to be endorsed by the group. Madagascar also indicated its intended candidacy to the U.S. Embassy in Antanarivo on April 13. On April 21, USUN received a dip note announcing Djibouti's candidacy. End Note.) Asian Group (13 seats): Bangladesh, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgystan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Saudi Arabia (Note: Iraq also conveyed its candidacy to USUN via dip note on March 20. End Note.) Eastern European Group (6 seats): Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Ukraine (Note: U.S. Mission Geneva also received a dip note indicating Croatia's candidacy on March 29. End Note.) GRULAC (8 seats): Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela WEOG (7 seats): Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom PLEDGES AND COMMITMENTS BY HRC CANDIDATES ¶9. The Secretariat repeatedly referred to the provision in OP 8 of the resolution that "when electing members of the Council, Member States shall take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto." They noted that links to the pledges and commitments submitted by a number of countries were already available on the website. In addition, and in light of requests by several delegations, the Secretariat has agreed to translate and prepare as official UN documents the voluntary pledges and commitments that HRC candidates present before May 1. In response to a question from the United Kingdom, the Secretariat confirmed there will not be a PBI associated with this work. BOLTON