HRW decries Russia and Saudi Arabia's candidacy for UN rights body

New York (dpa) - Russia and Saudi Arabia‘s re-election to serve on the UN Human Rights Council would undermine the body‘s credibility due to the poor human rights track records of the two countries, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.The international rights watchdog said that Russia and Saudi Arabia are unfit to serve on the 47-member UN rights body because they have carried out attacks against civilians in Syria and Yemen respectively.Electing countries that try to avoid responsibility for their own human rights violations could threaten the Geneva-based Human Rights Council‘s ability to expose violations in other countries, said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch."Electing council members that are truly committed to improving human rights is the responsibility of each and every UN member country, and Saudi Arabia and Russia don‘t honor the ideals that underpin the UN Human Rights Council," Charbonneau said.The UN General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections for the rights body on Friday.