The Free Kareem Coalition strongly objects to the election of Egypt to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council on May 17, with 168 votes out of the 192-member General Assembly. The Human Rights Council was formed to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission last year, but the election of countries who themselves abuse human rights should give everyone serious concerns about the legitimacy of the council and its effectiveness to truly help those in need.

A coalition of human-rights groups opposed the election of Egypt, as well as Angola and Qatar (who won appointments) and Belarus (which lost). Before the vote, UN Watch appealed to the countries to release their political prisoners now, lest the watchdog group oppose their candidacies:

“Election to the Council is supposed to be based on the candidate’s ‘contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and [its] voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto,’ according to the Council’s founding document, General Assembly Resolution 60/251. Once it is a Council member, a country is supposed to ‘uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights’ and ‘fully cooperate with the Council.’”

To elect a country that imprisons bloggers and others simply for exercising their fundamental right of free speech is wrong. However, actions such as the Human Rights Council vote also may embolden that country to continue its crackdowns, as now it has been given legitimacy on the human-rights front in an international forum. And as we know, Egypt was emboldened to begin with as they successfully prosecuted and imprisoned Kareem, then indicated further crackdowns were to come in the verdict’s wake.

Considering the number of votes that Egypt received for its appointment, we also express concern about how many member states are truly educated about the human-rights situation in the country and ask that U.N. members give the issue of Kareem and other political prisoners high priority in future votes.