NEW YORK - The UAE today won the membership of the UN Human Rights Council for a three-year term starting from early 2013.
The UAE elected in a secret ballot conducted by the UN General Assembly in which 21 candidate countries from 18 geographical groups competed for 18 vacant seats. The UAE got 184 votes, the highest vote turnout of the total votes garnered by the four winning Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea and Pakistan) and the second highest votes of the total 18 winners.
Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, welcomed the UAE victory, saying :'' The win crowned a series of achievements made by the UAE in its human rights record over the recent years, particularly in areas of legislations to uphold and protect fundamental freedoms and legal rights of individuals, rights of women and children and advanced regulations on rights of foreign workforce.''
He said :''The UAE win of the seat for the next three years will lay on our shoulder additional onus and commitment to stay our course firmly in consistence with constitutional principles on which the UAE State is built and which place respect for human rights at the top of national priorities.'' He added that the achievements explicitly promotes the values and culture of the UAE which based on tolerance, openness, justice, equality and human dignity.
Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Jarman, UAE Permanent Representative to the United Nations, expressed his extreme delights at this development and at the strong support lent to the UAE by the members of the UN Human Rights Council.
He said the win further consolidates the UAE's prominent stature at the international scene and recognizes its honourable human rights record.
Al Jarman added that the UAE government had always updated its laws and systems to introduce adequate mechanisms to protect human rights and keep abreast of latest regional and international best practices.
Citing a shining example of respect for human rights, he said the UAE had not only made strenuous and successful efforts to combat human trafficking within its borders but also partnered with other countries and regional and international organisations to put an end to the inhuman crime.
The Council shall consist of 47 Member States, which shall be elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the members of the General Assembly.
