Fiji wins presidency of UN Human Rights Council
Fiji has won the recent diplomatic contest to become the first Pacific island nation to take the presidency of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The body this month elected Fiji’s chief diplomat in Geneva, Nazhat Shameem Khan, as its 2021 leader with 29 of the 47 member nations voting for her.
The UNHRC was formed in 2006, purportedly to promote and preserve human rights around the world, as well as to investigate possible violations by UN member states. Its members are elected every three years by the UN General Assembly. It has become another arena for nation-state rivalries, with participating countries seeking to cover up their own abuses while denouncing their rivals over “human rights” at the same time.