GENEVA – Fiji, an island nation in the Pacific, won the election on Friday as president of the United Nations’ top human rights body, ending a proxy battle waged by China, Russia and Saudi Arabia to strengthen its influence by installing a more successful candidate. complacent.
Fiji won decisively, with the support of 29 countries in a secret ballot by the 47 members of the Human Rights Council, rejecting a challenge from Bahrain, which obtained 14 votes, and Uzbekistan, which received four votes.
The result places the small and remote island nation, which has a history of supporting human rights initiatives, in a leadership position at a time of intensified competition between states to hold rights violators accountable.
China and Russia will return as board members in 2021, giving voice to two powerful nations that have faced widespread criticism of human rights abuses. Human rights groups say the council has been effective in highlighting many of the worst crises and hope that President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s next US administration will reinforce that role by re-engaging with the body, of which President Trump resigned 2018.
“Fiji’s victory is a victory for those who believe that the Human Rights Council should be used to defend human rights,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “The opposition to Fiji’s candidacy by China, Russia and Saudi Arabia reflects the determination of these and other autocratic governments to prevent the work of the Human Rights Council.”
The chairman of the council has significant influence over his priorities and the selection of independent experts to report on human rights violators and their crimes. The president is also responsible for lobbying states that seek to thwart the council’s work by cracking down on people who cooperate with its investigations.
Fiji announced its candidacy in July 2020 and, initially running without opposition, seemed like a right choice for the job. Its ambassador, Nazhat Shameem Khan, a Cambridge-trained lawyer who became the first judge of the Fijian High Court, is highly respected in the Geneva diplomatic community and was vice chairman of the council. In the Council, Fiji supported investigations into reported abuses in Venezuela, the Philippines, Belarus, Syria and Yemen.
These positions, strongly contested by China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, appear to have led Bahrain to make a late bid for the post, triggering weeks of maneuvering within the group of countries in Asia Pacific to try to pressure Fiji to withdraw.
Human rights activists have attacked Bahrain for cracking down on critics at home and for its refusal to cooperate with United Nations human rights bodies, which critics consider disqualifying for his candidacy.
“It was pretty clumsy, there was no claim even to support human rights,” said Roth, describing Bahrain’s candidacy as a blatant attempt to install a candidate who “would do Saudi Arabia’s dirty work.”
As the dispute progressed to a council vote, where Fiji had strong support, China publicly downplayed its opposition, issuing statements saying it would be happy to see any of the elected candidates, including Fiji.
But diplomats and human rights groups say the outcome gives Beijing cause for concern. China faces increasingly intense scrutiny at the United Nations about the imprisonment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and its harsh crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
President-elect Biden has promised a return to multilateral institutions like the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement, which President Trump abandoned. Biden also promised to emphasize human rights in his foreign policy, but has not yet taken a public position when he returns to the council, which has influential critics in the United States, especially among Israel’s supporters.
Fiji’s success “undoubtedly makes it easier for Biden to bring the United States back to the council, rather than having a country with a demonstrably poor human rights record in office,” said Marc Limon, director of the Universal Rights Group, with headquarters in Geneva.
Beijing has so far avoided direct criticism from the Human Rights Council, although that may change, said Roth. A council resolution last year to investigate systemic racism in the United States and other countries set a precedent for actions targeting global powers.
“If Biden really makes an effort to bring other governments together to condemn China,” said Roth, “it could tip the balance and, for the first time, we could see condemnatory resolutions on China coming out of the council.”