A/77/PV.17 General Assembly

The General Assembly will consider sub-item (c) of agenda item 117 for the election of 14 members of the Human Rights Council to replace those members whose term of office expires on 31 December 2022. The outgoing members are Armenia, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Libya, the Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Namibia, the Netherlands, Poland, the Republic of Korea, the Sudan and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. In accordance with paragraph 7 of resolution 60/251, of 15 March 2006, those member States are eligible for immediate re-election except those that have served two consecutive terms, namely, Brazil and Japan. The 14 vacant seats are 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 of 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. I should like to inform members that the following States will continue to be members of the Human Rights Council: Argentina, Benin, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Cameroon, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Czechia, Eritrea, Finland, France, Gabon, the Gambia, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malawi, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Senegal, Somalia, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and Uzbekistan. The names of those States, therefore, should not appear on the ballot papers. This election will be held in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure of the General Assembly on elections. In that regard, rule 94 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 as elected, up to the number of seats to be filled. Also, consistent with past practice, if, due to a tie vote, it becomes necessary to determine a candidate or candidates 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 with the proposed way forward?

I give the floor to the representative of Singapore on a point of order.

I apologize that I have to take the floor at this point, but before we proceed further with the election, I should like to point out that the General Assembly made a decision in paragraph 48 of resolution 71/323, of 20 September 2017, regarding the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, decided that “on the day of election in the General Assembly or in the Main Committees the campaign materials distributed in the General Assembly Hall or in the Committee meeting room shall be limited to a single page of information regarding the candidates, with a view to preserving the decorum of the Assembly”. I have asked to speak on a point of order because I have noticed that gifts were being distributed at the entrance to the General Assembly Hall this morning. The generosity of friends is very much appreciated, but I should like to think that the distribution of gifts, in particular at the entrance of the General Assembly Hall or in the premises of the United Nations on the day of an election, and especially prior to the conduct of voting, would not be in keeping with paragraph 48 of resolution 71/323. Beyond the issue of decorum, there is also the question of equity, because I am not sure if every delegation should be put in the position of having to distribute gifts or if all will have the resources to compete in providing gifts, and whether we intend to transform the General Assembly Hall on the day of voting into a bazaar of gifts. I say this in all due respect, because those of us who have been here for some time made that decision in 2017 precisely because the generosity of our friends was overwhelming. We are touched, of course, by those expressions of generosity, but I think that when it comes to the conduct of elections and voting, we should abide by both the spirit and the letter of the decisions we have made. I therefore raise this issue not only as a point of order but also as a point of reminder, and I hope that the Office of the President of the General Assembly will monitor that particular aspect of the implementation of the resolution we have adopted. I also kindly request all friends who may have distributed gifts not to take this in any way as criticism, but I think it is important that, as we conduct our work in the General Assembly Hall, we implement what we have decided.

The point made by the representative of Singapore is taken. I should like to ask all member States to refrain from distributing gifts inconsistent with the relevant resolution and to cease such activities for the remainder of the conduct of the election. 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: Algeria, Morocco, South Africa and the Sudan. For the four vacant seats for Asia-Pacific States, the Secretariat has received communications from six candidates: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam. For the two vacant seats for Eastern European States, the Secretariat has received communications from two candidates: Georgia and Romania. For the two vacant seats for Latin American and Caribbean States, the Secretariat has received communications from three candidates: Chile, 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: Belgium and Germany. 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 have been issued as official documents of the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session. 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. 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. Members are requested to put an “X” in the box next to the name printed on the ballot paper or to write the name of another eligible State on the blank line. If the box next to the name of a State is checked, the name of that State does not have to be repeated on the blank line. The total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed the number of vacant seats to be filled as indicated on the ballot paper. Accordingly, for the ballot papers marked “A” for African States, the total number of checked boxes and/ or handwritten names should not exceed four; for the ballot papers marked “B” for Asia-Pacific States, the total number of checked boxes and/or handwritten names should not exceed four; for the ballot papers marked “C” for Eastern European States, the total number of checked boxes and/or 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/or 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/or handwritten names should not exceed two. In the following instances, the ballot paper will be declared invalid: if the number of votes for eligible Member States on the ballot paper exceeds the number of vacant seats indicated on the ballot paper; if all the votes on the ballot paper are for Member States that do not belong to the relevant regional group; if all the votes on the ballot are for Member States that are not eligible for election. In that regard, I recall that the following Member States are not eligible for election: those that will continue to be members of the Council next year and those that are currently serving their second consecutive term on the Council. In the following instances, the ballot paper remains valid but the votes for these Member States will not be counted: if the ballot paper contains names of Member States that do not belong to the relevant regional group; if the ballot paper contains names of Member States that will continue to be members of the Council next year; or if the ballot paper contains names of Member States that are currently serving their second consecutive term in the Council. Finally, if a ballot paper contains any notation other than votes in favour of eligible Member States, those notations will be disregarded. We shall now begin the voting process.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African States (4 seats) Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 0 Number of members present and voting: 190 Required absolute majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: South Africa: 182 Algeria: 178 Morocco: 178 Sudan: 157 Group B — Asia-Pacific States (4 seats) Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 189 Abstentions: 0 Number of members present and voting: 189 Required absolute majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Bangladesh: 160 Maldives: 154 Viet Nam: 145 Kyrgyzstan: 126 Republic of Korea: 123 Afghanistan: 12 Bahrain: 1 Mongolia: 1 Group C — Eastern European States (2 seats) Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 9 Number of members present and voting: 181 Required absolute majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Georgia: 178 Romania: 176 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States (2 seats) Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 189 Abstentions: 0 Number of members present and voting: 189 Required absolute majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Chile: 144 Costa Rica: 134 Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela: 88 Group E  — Western European and other States (2 seats) Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 14 Number of members present and voting: 176 Required absolute majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Belgium: 169 Germany: 167 San Marino: 1

I congratulate the States that have been elected members of the Human Rights Council, and I thank the tellers for their assistance in this election. This concludes our consideration of sub-item (c) of agenda item 117.