UN: Algeria and Sierra Leone elected to Security Council

Algeria, Sierra Leone, Guyana and South Korea were elected unchallenged on Tuesday to sit on the UN Security Council in 2024-25, while Slovenia handily beat Belarus for the only contested seat.

The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members, including five permanent members (United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom ) and ten countries elected for two years, half renewed each year, and respecting rules geographical distribution.

In the secret ballot vote in the General Assembly, Slovenia - competing with Belarus for the seat going to Eastern Europe - obtained 153 votes, against 38 in Belarus.

"Today's vote in the General Assembly shows why a competition for UN elections is essential," commented Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch.

"UN member states have undoubtedly decided that Belarus' grave human rights violations at home and attempts to cover up Russian atrocities in Ukraine disqualify it from serving on the Security Council, a crucial body for ensuring human rights. humans,” he added.

The other four seats to be filled, held by representatives from Africa, Asia -Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean, all had a single candidate. Algeria got 184 votes, South Korea 180 votes, Sierra Leone 188 votes and Guyana 191.

The five countries elected on Tuesday will replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates from January 1, 2024. They will join the five permanent members of the Council who have a right of veto as well as the five countries elected last year: Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland.

Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister David Francis said it was "a great day for this small, progressive and confident country...which has successfully transitioned from war to peace" to return to Council after 53 years.

Francis said his country knew the ravages of civil war and the plight of bitterly divided communities, and that he would bring his experience to the Security Council because he knows "what the United Nations can do in terms of deployment of major peacekeeping and peace support operations.

This is the third time that South Korea and Guyana have served on the Council and the fourth time for Algeria.