AFP reports that Fiji’s ambassador to Geneva, Ambassador Nazat, was originally favored to succeed the previous president of the Human Rights Council when his one-year term ended, but last-minute opposition from China and Russia and Saudi Arabia made the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council difficult. It was noted that China was concerned that Nazat’s good reputation for defending human rights would have a negative impact on China, which has a poor human rights record.
The head of the Universal Rights Group (USG), Marc Rimon, also told AFP that he would not be able to take up the presidency. Rimon also told AFP that “these countries think Fiji is too pro-Western”. But he argued, “The essence of the issue is that Fiji is very focused on human rights and has a strong position in the Human Rights Council.”
However, a Chinese diplomat, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, was reluctant to admit that China did not oppose the Fijian candidate, “a misinterpretation of the Chinese position,” and Saudi Arabia and Russia did not answer AFP’s questions.
Normally, the president of the UN Human Rights Council is primarily responsible for the proceedings of the session for a one-year term, which rotates among the different regions each year. This year it was the turn of the Asia-Pacific region and the delegates could not reach an agreement. In this way, the representatives of the 47 countries of the Human Rights Council must hold a secret ballot on Friday.
According to the report, the discussion of the new UN Human Rights Council presidency, at the beginning of Fiji’s representative was the most favored, but suddenly took a dramatic turn midway, Bahrain in China, Saudi Arabia, Russia to support the introduction of their own candidates.
Speaking to the media, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) Executive Director Philip Linguini said that China and other countries fear that a Fiji-led Human Rights Council would be too aggressive.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, argued that blocking the election of Fiji’s candidate was an attempt to keep the UN Human Rights Council inactive. They would rather have a country like Bahrain, which is also a serious violator of human rights, that washes its hands of the Saudis and is not interested in human rights in the slightest.
Although China, Russia and Saudi Arabia operate frequently behind the scenes, AFP reported that the possibility of an eventual win for the Fijian candidate remains high.
Rimon said that the choice of who will chair the UN Human Rights Council should first take human rights as the most basic consideration.
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