Breaking: Pakistan elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council won by a record number of votes.

Pakistan elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council won by a record number of votes.

Islamabad: Pakistan was re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with 169 votes in the 193-member UN General Assembly, a statement from the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Pakistan secured the highest number of votes among the five candidates from the Asia-Pacific region vying for four seats in elections in New York, the statement said.

The country has served on the UNHRC since Jan. 2018 and will continue for another three-year term commencing Jan. 1.

Since the UNHRC’s establishment in 2006, this is the fifth time that Pakistan has been elected to the UN’s premier body on human rights.

Also China, Russia and Cuba won seats on the U.N.’s premiere human rights body on October 13 despite opposition from activist groups over their abysmal human rights records, but another target, Saudi Arabia, lost.

Russia and Cuba were running unopposed, but China and Saudi Arabia were in a five-way race in the only contested race for seats on the Human Rights Council.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES