The United Nations General Assembly rejected Belarus’ bid for a seat on the Human Rights Council today, upholding the principle that the human rights records of council members do matter, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite the Belarus defeat, today’s election was marred by a lack of competition within three of the five UN regional groups, which only put up as many candidates as there were seats available.

General Assembly resolution 60/251 requires that states "take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto" in voting to elect members of the Human Rights Council (HRC).

The United Nations General Assembly should reject Belarus’ bid for a seat on the Human Rights Council because of its appalling rights record and consistent failure to cooperate with the UN, Human Rights Watch said today. Elections to the council will be held on May 17, 2007.

Belarus’ record on human rights makes the country a supremely unfit candidate for the United Nations Human Rights Council, a coalition of more than 40 national and international human rights groups said today.

A geographically diverse group of NGOs unite in opposition to Belarus' bid for a Human Rights Council seat.

Belarusian civil society organizations are courageously speaking out—calling on UN member states to reject Belarus' bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The statement by the Belarusian Association of Journalists is below....

Belarusian civil society organizations are courageously speaking out—calling on UN member states to reject Belarus' bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The statement by the Helsinki XXI is below....