Washington — The United States has won a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council and is eager to begin working both to improve the council itself and to advance the protection of human rights worldwide, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said May 12.

Speaking with reporters at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Rice said, “While we recognize that the Human Rights Council has been a flawed body that has not lived up to its potential, we are looking forward to working from within with a broad cross section of member states to strengthen and reform the Human Rights Council and enable it to live up to the vision that was crafted when it was created.”

Rice said that during its three-year term on the council, the United States intends “to lead based on the strong, principled vision that the American people have about respecting human rights (and) supporting democracy.”

The United States received 90 percent of the valid votes cast, Rice said. “We’re gratified by the strong showing of encouragement for the United States to again play a meaningful leadership role in multilateral organizations, including the U.N., on the very vitally important set of issues relating to human rights and democracy,” she said.

The United States was one of 18 countries elected or re-elected to three-year terms on the 47-seat, Geneva-based council. The other recently elected countries are Bangladesh, Belgium, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Hungary, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uruguay. Noting that some countries on the council have been criticized for suppressing human rights within their own borders, Rice said, “Obviously there will always be some countries whose respect and record on human rights is sub-par; we have not been perfect ourselves.”

The United States “ran for the Human Rights Council because this administration and indeed, the American people, are deeply committed to upholding and respecting the human rights of every individual.”

“We wouldn’t be running,” she said, “if we thought it was impossible for the council to fulfill the vision that we all had when it was established.”

In 2011, the council, the major U.N. body working to promote and protect human rights, will undergo a review of its procedures, an event Rice described as “an important opportunity to strengthen and reform the council.”

Seats on the council are distributed among the United Nations’ regional groups: 13 seats for Africa; 13 for Asia; eight for Latin America and the Caribbean; six for Eastern Europe; and seven for Western Europe and other states (including those from North America.)

In the past, there has been criticism, including from the United States, about how the council deals with Israel. Between 2006 and 2008, for example, Israel was condemned 15 times.

The Obama administration, however, has been eager to work more closely with U.N. institutions to effect change. When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rice announced March 31 that the United States would seek a seat on the council, they emphasized that the decision was in keeping with the Obama administration’s “new era of engagement” with other nations to advance American security interests and to meet the global challenges of the 21st century.

See also “Obama Administration Seeks Greater Involvement with U.N.”

For more information, see “On Fundamental Human Rights, Our Pledge” on the State Department Web site.