General Assembly elects new members to UN Human Rights Council A delegate casts his country’s ballot during the General Assembly’s election UN News Center, 16 October 2017  – The General Assembly today elected, by secret ballot, 15 States to serve on the Human Rights Council, the highest intergovernmental body in the  United Nations  system for matters relating to protection and promotion of human rights worldwide. Newly elected to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council are Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Qatar, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine. All would serve three-year terms beginning on 1 January 2018. The 15 new members were elected according to the following pattern: four seats for African States; four seats for Asia-Pacific States; three seats for Latin American and Caribbean States; two seats for Eastern European States; and two seats for Western European and...