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The UN General Assembly has elected 18 states to fill in the seats on its 47-member Human Rights Council that become vacant in 2013.

Elected on Monday were Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Montenegro, Pakistan, South Korea, Sierra Leone, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Ireland and Estonia.

The United States was reelected for the second consecutive term.

“Today's vote affirms that active US leadership in the Human Rights Council and throughout the United Nations system will continue to pay real dividends for Americans and for the rest of the world," US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said after the vote.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the election of countries with dubious records, such as Ethiopia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, and the United Arab Emirates, due to the lack of competition for the seats.

The General Assembly established the UNHRC in 2006 as an inter-governmental body 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.

The Council’s Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution as follows: as follows: 13 for Africa, 13 for Asia, six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), and seven for the Western European and Others Group (WEOG). - PNA

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