Russia has been voted off the United Nations Human Rights Council amid mounting allegations of being responsible for war crimes in relation to its actions in Syria.
Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, Brazil, Rwanda, Hungary, Cuba, South Africa, Japan, Tunisia, the US and UK - many of which have themselves been condemned for human rights abuses - all won seats on the council. Guatemala was the only country running for a seat beside Russia to not be elected.
A new United Nations (UN) report has called for laws criminalising consensual same-sex sexual activity to be repealed around the world.
In the new report, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein has said that LGBT people are victims of “pervasive violent abuse, harassment and discrimination” in all regions of the world, citing hundreds of hate-related killings, the Guardian reports.
The UN has passed a resolution demanding the UK return control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
In the non-binding vote in the General Assembly in New York, 116 states were in favour and only six against, a major diplomatic blow to the UK.
Fifty-six states, including France and Germany, abstained.
Mauritius says it was forced to give up the Indian Ocean group - now a British overseas territory - in 1965 in exchange for independence.
In a statement to the BBC, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said Britain did not recognise Mauritius' claim to sovereignty, but would stand by an earlier commitment to hand over control of the islands to Mauritius when they were no longer needed for defence purposes.
The US, Hungary, Israel, Australia and the Maldives were the states voting with the UK against the resolution.
It comes months after the UN's high court advised that the UK should leave the islands "as rapidly as possible".
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Britain purchased the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 for £3m, creating a region known as the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Between 1967 and 1973, it evicted the islands' entire population to make way for a joint military base with the US, which is still in place on Diego Garcia. In 2016, the lease for the base was extended until 2036.
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Before Wednesday's vote, Mauritian Prime Minister Pravid Kumar Jug-Nauth told the General Assembly the forcible eviction of Chagossians was akin to a crime against humanity.
However, he said Mauritius would allow the military base to continue operating "in accordance with international law", if it were given control of the islands.
Mr Jug-Nauth said this would give the facility a "higher degree of legal certainty" for the future.
The UK has maintained that Mauritius gave up the territory freely in return for a range of benefits.
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I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake. http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
Forty-five Member States of the United Nations serve as members of the Commission at any one time. The Commission consists of one representative from each of the 45 Member States elected by the Economic and Social Council on the basis of equitable geographical distribution:
13 members from Africa
11 from Asia
nine from Latin America and Caribbean
eight from Western Europe and other States
four from Eastern Europe
It's a good thing Iraq is leaving at the end of the year. They really didn't do enough work to offset Congo. Too bad Afghanistan is on there for another three years.
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted to pass a resolution to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council, in response to Russian forces' alleged killings of civilians in Ukraine.
The vote passed with 93 countries voting in favor, 24 voting against and 58 abstaining from voting. Belarus, China, Iran, Russia and Syria were among the countries who voted against the resolution.
Russia has warned countries at the United Nations that a yes vote or abstention on a U.S. push to suspend Moscow from the Human Rights Council will be viewed as an "unfriendly gesture" with consequences for bilateral ties, according to a note seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
