Thursday, November 21, 2024

Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast elected to UN Security Council

Must read

Nigerian High Commission apartments in Ghana demolished

Some new apartments built at the residence of the Nigerian High Commissioner in Ghana’s capital city Accra, have been demolished by bulldozers. The apartments have been constructed to...

Covid-19: Ghana records significant recovery numbers

Ghanaian health officials on Saturday said over 10,000 persons infected with the coronavirus have now recovered. The significant number of recoveries means the country now...

DR Congo: President’s ex-chief of staff jailed 20 years for corruption

The ex-chief of staff of the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been jailed 20 years by a high court. Vital Kamerhe was...

Covid-19: Zimbabwe’s health minister arrested, charged for graft

Zimbabwe's Health Minister Obadiah Moyo has been arrested over corruption allegations related to procurement of medical equipment worth $60 million. Moyo is accused of illegally...
Isaac Kaledzihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Kaledzi
Isaac Kaledzi is an experienced and award winning journalist from Ghana. He has worked for several media brands both in Ghana and on the International scene. Isaac Kaledzi is currently serving as an African Correspondent for DW.

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly elected Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland to the U.N. Security Council on Friday for a two-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2018.

The Netherlands was elected for a one-year term after reaching a deal with Italy last year to split a two-year term. Voting between the pair was deadlocked last year so they agreed that Italy would serve on the council for 2017 and then step down to allow the Netherlands to be elected for 2018.

While all the countries were running unopposed, they still needed more than two-thirds of the overall vote to win a seat.

Ivory Coast received 189 votes, Equatorial Guinea got 185, Kuwait received 188, Peru won 186, Poland got 190, and the Netherlands received 184 votes.

The council is made up of 10 elected members, five voted on each year and five permanent veto-powers: the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia. The council is the only U.N. body that can make legally binding decisions and has the power to impose sanctions and authorize the use of force.

To ensure geographical representation on the Council, there are five seats apportioned for African and Asian states; one for Eastern European states; two for the Latin American and Caribbean states and two for Western European and other states.

Regional groups generally agree upon the candidates to put forward and competitive races for seats are increasingly rare.

Human rights activists, however, said this was a “serious problem.”

“Member states should be able to choose whether or not they trust a country like Equatorial Guinea with the maintenance of international peace and security,” said Human Rights Watch U.N. director Louis Charbonneau.

“Equatorial Guinea is a country that has harassed human rights defenders and civil groups, often with arbitrary detentions,” he said. “As the Security Council increasingly mainstreams the promotion of human rights, we hope Equatorial Guinea won’t push back or undermine that.”

Equatorial Guinea’s government has denied accusations of corruption and human rights abuses.

 

Reuters

- Advertisement -

More articles

- Advertisement -

Latest article

Nigerian High Commission apartments in Ghana demolished

Some new apartments built at the residence of the Nigerian High Commissioner in Ghana’s capital city Accra, have been demolished by bulldozers. The apartments have been constructed to...

Covid-19: Ghana records significant recovery numbers

Ghanaian health officials on Saturday said over 10,000 persons infected with the coronavirus have now recovered. The significant number of recoveries means the country now...

DR Congo: President’s ex-chief of staff jailed 20 years for corruption

The ex-chief of staff of the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been jailed 20 years by a high court. Vital Kamerhe was...

Covid-19: Zimbabwe’s health minister arrested, charged for graft

Zimbabwe's Health Minister Obadiah Moyo has been arrested over corruption allegations related to procurement of medical equipment worth $60 million. Moyo is accused of illegally...

Ghana’s new law that jails citizens not wearing facemask 10 years

Ghanaians who fail to wear the face masks in compliance with a presidential directive risk going to jail for ten years. They also face a...