A/74/PV.17 General Assembly

The General Assembly will now proceed with the election of 14 members of the Human Rights Council to replace those members whose term of office expires on 31 December 2019. The 14 outgoing members are the following: Brazil, China, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Japan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In accordance with operative paragraph 7 of resolution 60/251, of 15 March 2006, these Member States are eligible for immediate re-election except those that have served two consecutive terms, namely, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The 14 vacant seats should be distributed among the regional groups as follows: four seats for the African States; four seats for the Asia-Pacific States; two seats for the Eastern European States; two seats for the Latin American and Caribbean States; and two seats for the Western European and other States. In accordance with resolution 60/251, membership in the Council shall be open to all States Members of the United Nations, and the members of the Council shall serve for a period of three years. The members of the Council shall be elected directly and individually, by secret ballot, by the majority of the members of the General Assembly. Accordingly, 97 votes constitute a majority in the General Assembly, which has a membership of 193 States. The following States will continue to be members of the Human Rights Council: Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, the Czech Republic, the Democratic RepubIic of the Congo, Denmark, Eritrea, Fiji, India, Italy, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Senegal, Slovakia, Somalia, Spain, Togo, Ukraine and Uruguay. The names of these States, therefore, should not appear on the ballot papers. I remind delegations that the names of the following Member States should also not appear on the ballot papers, as they have served two consecutive terms and are therefore not eligible for this election: China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The election will be held in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure of the General Assembly on elections. In that regard, rule 94 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly shall be applied. Consistent with the practice of the General Assembly, if more than the required number of Member States have obtained the votes of the majority of the members of the Assembly on the same ballot, those Member States that have obtained the largest number of votes above the required majority will be considered elected, up to the number of seats to be filled. Also, consistent with past practice, if, due to a tied vote, it becomes necessary to determine the candidate to be elected or that will proceed to the next round of restricted balloting, there will be a special restricted ballot limited to those candidates that have obtained an equal number of votes. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to these procedures?

Regarding the candidatures of the respective regional groups, the Secretariat has been informed that, for the four vacant seats for African States, the Group has endorsed four candidates, namely, Libya, Mauritania, Namibia and the Sudan. For the four vacant seats for Asia-Pacific States, the Secretariat has received communications from five candidates, namely, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Korea. For the two vacant seats for Eastern European States, the Secretariat has received communications from three candidates, namely, Armenia, Poland and the Republic of Moldova. For the two vacant seats for Latin American and Caribbean States, the Secretariat has received communications from three candidates, namely, Brazil, Costa Rica and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For the two vacant seats for Western European and other States, the Secretariat has received communications from two candidates, namely, Germany and the Netherlands. I have also been informed by the Secretariat that voluntary pledges and commitments made by Member States, in accordance with paragraph 8 of resolution 60/251, were accordingly issued as official documents of the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now begin the voting process. Ballot papers marked “A”, “B”, “C”, “D” and “E” will now be distributed. Each ballot paper is assigned to one of the five regional groups. I request representatives to use only these ballot papers. In addition, ballot papers will be given only to the representative seated directly behind the country’s nameplate. In accordance with resolution 71/323, of 8 September 2017, the names of the States that have been communicated to the Secretariat, at least 48 hours prior to the election today, have been printed on the ballot papers for each of the regional groups. Also, additional blank lines corresponding to the number of vacant seats to be filled for each of the regional groups have been provided on the ballot papers for inscribing other names as necessary. Representatives are requested to use only the ballot papers that have been distributed and to check the boxes next to the names of the States for which they wish to vote and/or to write other eligible names on the blank lines. If the box next to the name of a candidate is checked, the name of that candidate should not be repeated on the blank line. Representatives are requested to check the boxes next to the names of candidates that are printed on the ballot papers and/or write other eligible names on the blank lines. The total number of checked boxes and handwritten names may not exceed the number of vacant seats to be filled as indicated on the ballot paper. A ballot paper containing more votes than the number of vacant seats indicated on the ballot paper will be declared invalid. A ballot will also be declared invalid if all the votes on that ballot do not belong to the relevant region. Accordingly, for the ballot papers marked “A”, for African States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed four; for the ballot papers marked “B”, for Asia-Pacific States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed four; for the ballot papers marked “C”, for Eastern European States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed two; for the ballot papers marked “D”, for Latin American and Caribbean States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed two; and for the ballot papers marked “E”, for Western European and other States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed two. If a ballot paper contains one of the names of the following Member States, the ballot remains valid but the vote for these Member States will not be counted: names of Member States that do not belong to the region concerned; names of Member States that are not eligible for re-election; and names of Member States that will continue to be members of the Council next year. Finally, if a ballot paper contains any notation other than votes in favour of specific candidates, those notations will be disregarded.

Members will recall that the Assembly, in its resolution 48/218 B, of 29 July 1994, decided to establish an Office of Internal Oversight Services under the authority of the Secretary-General, the head of which would be at the rank of Under- Secretary-General. By that resolution, the Assembly also decided that the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services should be an expert in the fields of accounting, auditing, financial analysis and investigations, management, law or public administration and should be appointed by the Secretary-General, following consultations with Member States, and approved by the General Assembly. For that purpose, the Secretary- General should appoint the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services with due regard for geographic rotation and in so doing should be guided by the provisions of paragraph 3 (e) of resolution 46/232, of 2 March 1992, whereby the Assembly decided, in particular, that as a general rule no national of a Member State should succeed a national of that State in a senior post and that there should be no monopoly on senior posts by nationals of any State or group of States. The Assembly also decided that the Under-Secretary- General for Internal Oversight Services should serve for one fixed term of five years without possibility of renewal and may be removed by the Secretary- General only for cause and with the approval of the General Assembly. In the light of the provisions of resolution 48/218 B, the Secretary-General proposes to appoint Ms. Fatoumata Ndiaye of Senegal as Under-Secretary- General for Internal Oversight Services for a fixed term of five years beginning on 25 October 2019 and ending on 24 October 2024. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to approve this appointment?

I warmly congratulate Ms. Fatoumata Ndiaye on her appointment to this important position and wish her every success. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of sub-item (h) of agenda item 115?

The result of the voting in the election of members to the Human Rights Council is as follows: Group A — African States (4 seats) Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 6 Number of members present and voting: 187 Required majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Namibia: 175 Sudan: 175 Mauritania: 172 Libya: 168 Benin: 1 Group B — Asia-Pacific States (4 seats) Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 1 Number of members present and voting: 192 Required majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Indonesia: 174 Japan: 165 Republic of Korea: 165 Marshall Islands: 123 Iraq: 121 Group C — Eastern European States (2 seats) Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 1 Number of members present and voting: 191 Required majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Armenia: 144 Poland: 124 Republic of Moldova: 103 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States (2 seats) Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 0 Number of members present and voting: 193 Required majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Brazil: 153 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of): 105 Costa Rica: 96 Group E — Western European and other States (2 seats) Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 15 Number of members present and voting: 178 Required majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Germany: 174 Netherlands: 172

I congratulate those States that have been elected members of the Human Rights Council, and I thank the tellers for their assistance in this election. The General Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of sub-item (c) of agenda item 114.