Sri Lanka, Spain lose U.N. Rights Council election

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sri Lanka failed to win a seat on the much-criticized U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday in an election that also saw France and Britain edge out Spain to take two seats reserved for Western countries.

The 47-member Geneva-based council was set up two years ago to replace the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which was widely criticized for failing to overcome political alliances and take a strong stand on issues including China's rights record.

But the new council has also been criticized for not taking a strong enough stand against violence in Tibet and Darfur and for singling out Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians.

Steve Crawshaw of Human Rights Watch welcomed Sri Lanka's defeat, saying that of the countries vying for the 15 vacant seats on the council, it was the one with the worst human rights track record.

"It will be important for the future because I hope that authoritarian regimes with poor records will be much more wary of putting themselves forward," Crawshaw said.

Nineteen countries were running for 15 seats spread across geographical zones.

France won the most votes in the Western European and others group, while Britain beat Spain by just one vote.

In Asia, Japan, Bahrain, South Korea and Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka and East Timor to take four seats available.

Ukraine and Slovakia defeated Serbia and the Czech Republic to take the Eastern European seats.

Gabon, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Zambia were the only candidates in the running for the four seats allocated to Africa. Argentina, Brazil and Chile were also uncontested in their bid for three Latin American seats.