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In a report released on Tuesday, the two bodies asked the democratic countries to stop the nations with 'dismal' rights record from being elected to the Geneva-based top rights body of the United Nations.
The New York-based Freedom House and Geneva-based UN Watch evaluated each of the 20 candidates based on its record of human rights protection at home and its record of human rights promotion at the UN.
They said a quarter of countries vying for seats on the Council have human rights records that should “disqualify” them from the membership.
The study found five countries 'Not Qualified' including: Gabon, Bahrain, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zambia. All of these countries except Bahrain are incumbent candidates. The report questioned the eligibility of Brazil, East Timor and Burkina Faso, whose human rights records, it said, 'are mixed'.
Their report comes as the UN General Assembly prepares to elect 15 new Human Rights Council members, or one-third of the body’s membership, on May 21.
“Democratic countries are squandering a golden opportunity to promote human rights through this important UN body,” said Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of the UN Watch.
“Instead, they lend international credibility to repressive governments that routinely violate the rights of their own citizens.” The evaluation included the countries’ rankings in Freedom House and UN Watch analyses, as well as reports from Reporters San Frontihres, The Economist Democracy Index and the Democracy Coalition Project.
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