Bangladesh elected to the UN Human Rights Council for 2015-2017

Dhaka, Oct 22: Bangladesh has been elected a member of the UN Human Rights Council for 2015-2017 term, media reported Wednesday.

In the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council's "highly competitive" elections held in New York Tuesday, it was pitted against India, Indonesia, Qatar and Thailand in the Asia group, bdnews24.com reported.

India came out on top with most votes in the group followed by Indonesia. Bangladesh secured 149 votes, the third highest number of votes in the group while Thailand was eliminated, Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said.

"This win proves that Bangladesh is absolutely on the right track under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina," Ali said.

Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the UN, A.K. Abdul Momen termed it a "rare" international honour for Bangladesh, having notched successive victories in the global elections.

This Human Rights Council created in 2006 oversees global human rights standards, mechanisms and normative deliberations on promotion and protection of human rights.

The Council's membership is based on equitable geographical distribution.

Seats are distributed as 13 each for African states and Asia-Pacific states, eight for Latin American and Caribbean states, seven for western European and other states, and six for eastern European states.

IANS