Pakistan re-elected to UN Human Rights Council
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), securing 169 votes in the 193-member UN General Assembly. Elections were held in New York on Tuesday (13). Among the five candidates from the Asia-Pacific region vying for four seats, Pakistan secured the highest number of votes, a statement from the country’s foreign ministry said.
Pakistan, serving on the UNHRC since January 1, 2018, will continue as a member for another three-year term commencing January 1, 2021. This is the fifth time Pakistan has been elected to the United Nations’ premier body on Human Rights, since its establishment in 2006.
The statement said the international community has once again reposed confidence in Pakistan, recognizing its contribution to the national and global human rights agenda and strong credentials as a consensus builder in the UNHRC.
It added that Pakistan remains firmly committed to upholding, promoting and safeguarding human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, and will sustain its efforts towards ensuring that the UNHRC’s work is guided by the principles of universality, impartiality, dialogue and cooperation.
“In line with Pakistan’s commitment, we will prioritize advancement of tolerance, respect and constructive engagement in the UNHRC,” the statement said, noting that the HRC has been a prominent forum for discussing the gross and systematic human rights abuses being perpetrated in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The human rights violations committed with impunity by the Indian occupation forces in IIOJK have been extensively documented in the various reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the independent Special Procedure Mandate Holders, the statement noted, adding that Pakistan will remain actively engaged with the Council as well as its related processes to continue to highlight the plight of Kashmiris and other oppressed people all over the world.
-ENCL