15 October 2025. Following a non-competitive vote, Angola, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, India, Iraq, Italy, Mauritius, Pakistan, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom (UK) were elected as new UN Human Rights Council members, while Chile, South Africa, and Vietnam have been re-elected to serve a second consecutive term. In January 2026, these states will join the other currently serving members on the 47-seat Council that is the UN’s main human rights body, mandated to hold debates on human rights crises, develop normative standards through resolutions and reports, and establish specialised mandates for human rights situations and issues of concern.
Despite the requirement that Council members must "uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights" and "fully cooperate with the Council", as provided by UN General Assembly resolution 60/251 that established the body, this year’s election has rewarded several States with entrenched records of repression, underlining the need for rigorous monitoring of incoming members’ conduct during their 2026–2028 terms.
In considering their domestic human rights records, a number of the incoming members share concerning trends towards shrinking civic space and attacks against human rights defenders and civil society organisations. Egypt, India and Ecuador have implemented regressive legislation and policies imposing undue administrative and financial burdens on civil society organisations. These measures have effectively stifled civic activity and restricted defenders’ work. The misuse of counter-terrorism and national security legislation to target human rights defenders and activists is another concerning trend, a practice firmly entrenched in India and Egypt, as well as in the recent designation by the UK of the Palestine Action protest group. While no state has a perfect human rights record, those elected to the HRC must make genuine, demonstrable efforts to address domestic human rights concerns and strengthen protections for civil society. Committing to voluntary pledges at the start of their Council term is a concrete step that all members should take, and the implementation of these pledges, along with the state’s overall adherence to membership criteria, should be regularly assessed during the course of their membership.
Council members must be held to their commitment to cooperate with the HRC and its related mechanisms such as Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures, as well as to enable the participation of their national civil society. There several simple indicators that can be used to gauge this cooperation – or lack thereof. The Secretary-General’s annual report on cases of reprisals against civil society actors engaging with the UN, for example, has featured Egypt in every report since 2017, while Vietnam has been included in 9 of the 11 reports. Looking at cooperation with Special Procedures, the majority of incoming members have issued a standing invitation for Special Procedure mandates to carry out country visits (all except Angola, Egypt, Mauritius, Pakistan, and Vietnam). In reality, however, several states persist in not engaging constructively – India, for example, has not accepted a country visit since 2017, and Pakistan not since 2012.
This outcome also exposes procedural weaknesses in the election system, most notably the tendency of regional groups to coordinate on "clean slate" elections – nominating only the same number of candidates as there are vacant seats. This year, for the first time since 2021, every single regional group presented a clean slate. This results in a non-competitive election, undermining the credibility of the process itself. It is crucial that states participate in a genuinely competitive process to raise the standards for members, as could be seen successfully in the 2024 elections when Saudi Arabia placed last in a competitive Asia-Pacific Group slate, and failed to obtain a seat on the Council.
Membership on the Council must not be treated as a symbolic or political role, but as a fundamental responsibility to uphold the highest human rights standards both domestically and internationally. FIDH urges the UN and its member states to ensure genuinely competitive elections and prioritise candidates with demonstrable records of cooperation and respect for human rights. Sustained scrutiny and transparency are essential for preserving the Council’s legitimacy. FIDH and its member organisations will continue to monitor the conduct of HRC members and advocate for stronger accountability and protection for human rights defenders engaging with the Council.