Iceland Takes A Seat On The Human Rights Council

You may recall that the US withdrew from the UN’s Human Rights Council.  The US term would end on December 31, 2019.  Iceland will replace the US on the Council and serve until the end of the US term.  Iceland was the near unanimous vote for the US replacement (France received one vote.) This is the first time Iceland will serve on the Council.  The Council will meet next in September.

Seats are allocated on a regional basis and the council has 47 members.  

The Human Rights Council’s website informs that the Council is an “inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.  It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations.”