UN Human Rights Council

Amnesty International have launched a new website enabling states voting in next month's election of the first 47 members of the new UN Human Rights Council to assess the human rights records of candidate states.

"The promise by states to take account of candidate countries' human rights records when casting their votes in the Human Rights Council elections is a major step forward," said Martin Macpherson, Director of Amnesty International's International Law and Organizations Programme. "This first election of the Council will help to determine the future strength and reputation of the UN's human rights work. With this website, we are providing UN member states with an easy-to-use tool that provides information on all candidates. This will help them to fulfil their obligation to use their votes wisely -- in the interest of human rights internationally."

It is vital that this new body has credibility right from the start, or else it'll be just another arena for the rich and powerful to abuse.