Sri Lanka not to contest for UNHRC seat

Sri Lanka will not contest for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during the elections in November this year, government sources told the Colombo Gazette..

The election of 18 members of the Human Rights Council will be held during the 67th session of the UN General Assembly from November 12 to 16.

The Council consists of 47 Member States who are elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the members of the General Assembly.

Sri Lanka contested in 2008 for a seat but lost the vote despite heavy lobbying and sources said that the government had decided not to contest this time.

The membership is based on equitable geographical distribution, and seats are distributed among regional groups with the Group of African States getting 13 seats, Group of Asia-Pacific States 13, Group of Eastern European States 6, Group of Latin American and Caribbean States 8 and Group of Western European and other States 7.

As at 13 August 2012 the following States have declared their candidacy.

African States?(5 vacant seats)	Asian States (5 vacant seats)	Eastern European States?(2 vacant seats)	Latin American and Caribbean States?(3 vacant seats)	Western Europe and Other States?(3 vacant seats)
Cote d’Ivoire [No pledges submitted]	Pakistan? [No pledges submitted]	Estonia View pledges	Argentina View pledges	Germany View pledges
Gabon [No pledges submitted]	Japan View pledges	Montenegro View pledges	Brazil [No pledges submitted]	Ireland View pledges
Sudan [No pledges submitted]	United Arab Emirates View pledges		Venezuela?(Bolivarian Republic of) View pledges	?Greece View pledges
Ethiopia [No pledges submitted]	Republic of Korea?			Sweden View Pledges
?Sierra Leone [No pledges submitted]	Kazakhstan View pledges			?United States of America View Pledges
Kenya?