The United States, for the first time since 1947, yesterday failed to win re-election to the Geneva-based Human Rights Commission which investigates rights abuses throughout the world.
Instead, France, Austria and Sweden were chosen for the three seats allocated to Western countries that were up for election. The balloting was conducted among 53 nations voting in the Economic and Social Council, the umbrella group for the commission.
"Understandably, we are very disappointed," Mr James Cunningham, the chief US representative, said, declining to speculate on the reason for the defeat. "It was an election between a number of solid candidates. We very much wanted to serve on the committee."
The Singapore ambassador, Mr Kishore Mahbubani, called the vote "a stunning development".
"When I heard it, I couldn't believe it," he said.
Some diplomats said the Bush administration's opposition to the Kyoto climate change treaty, as well as its insistence on a missile defence shield, contributed to the loss.
But Ms Joanna Weschler, the UN representative of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said both Western and developing countries bore grudges against the US. "Washington should have seen it coming because there has been a growing resentment towards the United States and [its] votes on key human rights standards, including opposition to a treaty to abolish landmines and to the International Criminal Court and making AIDS drugs available to everyone," she said.
Other nations the US has held up to the spotlight in the Geneva commission, such as China or Cuba, resented US actions on the committee and "made their feelings well known in their speeches", she said. Ms Weschler also said the commission was turning into an "abuser solidarity" group. More and more countries with questionable human rights records were gaining election and then voting as a bloc against singling out individual nations for human rights abuses, she said.
The United States came in fourth in the balloting among Western nations with 29 votes. France was top scorer with 52 votes, followed by Austria with 41 and Sweden with 32.
Also elected yesterday were Bahrain, South Korea, Pakistan, Croatia and Armenia. Chile, Mexico, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda won uncontested seats.
Others who failed to get seats were Iran, Saudi Arabia, Latvia, and Azerbaijan, in addition to the US.