06 05 16 - 68 states have declared their candidacies for the Council. Some have done so by writing to the General Assembly secretariat;

UN Watch website:

http://www.unwatch.org/site/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1289203/apps/s/content.asp?ct=2382665

Candidates from the Eastern European Group (for 6 seats)
Country
Pledge
Freedom House
Rating
RSF
Ranking
Voting
Record
UN Watch
Endorsement

Albania
Yes
Partly Free
62
Positive
Yes

Armenia
Yes
Partly Free
102
Mixed
No

Azerbaijan
Yes
Not Free
141
Negative
No

Czech Republic
Yes
Free
9
Positive
Yes

Georgia
Yes
Partly Free
99
Positive
Yes

Hungary
Yes
Free
12
Positive
Yes

Latvia
Yes
Free
16
Positive
Yes

Lithuania
Yes
Free
22
Positive
Yes

Poland
Yes
Free
53
Positive
Yes

Romania
Yes
Free
70
Positive
Yes

Russian Federation
Yes
Not Free
*Worst of the Worst*
138
Negative
No
*Threat to Council*

Slovenia
Yes
Free
9
Positive
Yes

Ukraine
Yes
Free
112
Positive
Yes


Candidates and Their Qualifications

As of May 1, 2006, by our count, 68 states have declared their candidacies for the Council. Some have done so by writing to the General Assembly secretariat; these countries are listed on the General Assembly website. Some have done so in other ways, such as through diplomatic notes or through the press.

The above list of candidates is compiled from these various sources. Where a candidate has made a voluntary pledge in support of its candidacy, a link to the pledge is provided. For each candidate, we also list the following information, which we believe to be highly relevant to assessing a country's human rights record and commitment:

Its rating in Freedom House's most recent global survey, Freedom in the World 2006. This annual study measures political rights and civil liberties worldwide and ranks countries as Free, Partly Free, or Not Free. Where applicable we also noted the Not Free countries designated as the world's most repressive by Freedom House in it 2005 special report, The Worst of the Worst.
Its ranking in the 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index by Reporters Sans Frontières. This annual evaluation of global press freedom lists countries from
best (1 – a rank for which 7 countries tied in 2005) to worst (167). Freedom of the press is not only a key indicator of freedom of speech—the lifeblood of
democracy—but also a vital check against the power of the state, and therefore a principal safeguard for individual liberty and human rights.
Its voting record on resolutions against egregious human rights violations in the 2005 session of the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee and, if the country was a member, the 2005 session of the Commission on Human Rights. (Voting scorecards, compiled by the Democracy Coalition Project, are available here.) These resolutions pertained to Belarus, Congo, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. We deemed each country’s voting record to be positive, negative, or mixed based on its willingness to criticize these countries, which are some of the world’s worst human rights violators

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