Saudi Arabia was successfully re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council, despite criticism from human rights organizations over crimes it committed in Yemen.
The 47 places on the council are distributed on a regional basis, with staggered ballots seeing a third of the body re-elected each year.
Saudi Arabia sailed through the Asian ballot with 152 votes, and will represent the region on the UNHRC alongside China, Japan and Iraq for the next three years.
Over the next term, which will last between 2017 and 2019, the 14 chosen members will be tasked with formulating the UN’s official position on conflicts occurring around the world, as well as the domestic policies of member states.
The elections took place against a backdrop of criticism from non-governmental human rights organizations, who say that the body has been hijacked by oppressive regimes looking to deflect criticism and drive their own agendas.
Relatively, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International produced a joint statement earlier this year condemning Saudi Arabia for "an appalling record of violations" in Yemen, where it has conducted a bombing campaign against Ansarullah revolutionaries since 2015, which has resulted in the martyrdom of up to 4,000 civilians.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
