Russia, lost its seat on the UN Human Rights Council, while facing the allegations of war crimes in relation to its policies in Syria,  as the UN General Assembly voted to elect 14 members to the Geneva-based organ.

Brazil, China, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, Japan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, United Kingdom and the United States are elected for the three-year term beginning from January 1, 2017. India is a member of the 47-member human rights body and the term will expire in 2017.

Russia is in the fray for re-election to the human rights body, competing with Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria for two seats in the Eastern European bloc. Russia is edged out in a close vote, getting only 112 votes, just two less of the 114 that Croatia had polled, Hungary got 144 votes.

"In rejecting Russia's bid for re-election to the Human Rights Council, UN member states have sent a strong message to the Kremlin about its support for a regime that has perpetrated so much atrocity in Syria," UN director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) Louis Charbonneau said in a statement.

UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer said the "non-election of Russia shows that the nations of the world can reject gross abusers if they so choose."

"The UN's election of Saudi Arabia as a world judge on human rights is like a town picking a pyromaniac to be the fire chief," said Neuer.

Charbonneau said that Saudi Arabia, which was re-elected without competition, “doesn’t belong on the council in light of its indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Yemen. We’ll be keeping all members’ rights records under the microscope while they’re on the council.”

By Premji