Voting in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution to establish the UN Human Rights Council, Ambassador Minh said that Vietnam hopes the council will act in a balanced and equitable way, without political prejudice, and execute its functions of enhancing and protecting human rights.

The resolution to set up a new 47-member Human Rights Council, to replace the existing 53-member Human Rights Commission, was approved at the UN General Assembly’s plenary session on Wednesday by a vote of 170 in favour. The US, Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands voted against the resolution, while Iran, Venezuela and Belarus abstained.

For many years, the Human Rights Commission has been abused for political purposes that interfere in the internal issues of countries, Ambassador Minh said, citing this as the major reason behind the strong support for establishing the new Human Rights Council.

The newly approved resolution direct the UN Human Rights Council to act on the principles of objectivity, opposition to preferential treatment, international co-operation and dialogues, the Vietnamese diplomat said.