"United Nations member states voting by secret ballot Thursday to fill nine vacancies on a key human rights treaty body sidelined a U.S. candidate who, as a war crimes prosecutor, successfully secured the first genocide conviction in history.
In an election in which 16 candidates contested nine vacancies on the U.N. Human Rights Committee, Pierre-Richard Prosper was unsuccessful. Candidates from Albania, Chile, France, Greece, Guyana, Japan, Slovenia, Tunisia and Uganda were voted in.
Prosper's candidacy had the support of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, who earlier this month hosted a reception in his honor.
'With a pristine record confronting our world's most pressing civil and political rights issues, he will be an important voice on the Committee,' she tweeted afterwards.
The committee in question, the Human Rights Committee, is a body of 18 independent legal experts who review countries' compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The U.S. ratified the ICCPR in 1992, and since 1995 the U.S. has always held one of the 18 seats on the committee. Thursday's vote outcome means that will change for the first time, with effect from the beginning of next year..."