Below is a summary of the United Nations Human Rights Council Elections held on 17 May 2007, published by Reform the UN (ReformtheUN.org);

New York, May 21, 2007 - The General Assembly elected fourteen countries to the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday [17 May] morning. The election took nearly three hours and two rounds of voting.  Although most of the seats were uncontested, tight contests in the Eastern and Western European groupings pushed the voting into a second round. The new members - including five who were re-elected for a second term - will begin their terms on June 20, 2007.

By that date, the Council will have held its Fifth Session (11-18 June) and decided on the outstanding institution-building questions currently under discussion by several working groups.

Results Summary

Re-elected: India, Indonesia, Netherlands, Philippines, South Africa

Newly elected: Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bolivia, Egypt, Italy, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Qatar, Slovenia

These states will serve a three-year term, from June 20, 2007 to June 19, 2010. Members may serve two consecutive terms. Therefore, the re-elected states will not be eligible for immediate re-election. Newly elected states will be eligible for immediate re-election for one more term.

Candidates elected with the highest number of votes:
India (185), Indonesia (182)

Candidates elected with the lowest number of votes: Italy (101), Bosnia and Herzegovina (112)

Results Details

African Group
Total Seats on Council: 13
Members Whose Terms Expire on June 19, 2007: Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia

Official Candidates
Election Results - Round 1

Angola (172) - elected
Egypt (168) - elected
Madagascar (182) - elected
South Africa (175) - re-elected

The African Group ran a "clean slate" - the number of candidates running for election equaled the number of seats available.
Incumbent members Tunisia and Morocco, which were not official candidates, each received one vote.
Two states abstained from voting.

Asian Group
Total Seats on Council: 13
Members Whose Terms Expire on June 19, 2007: Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Philippines

Official Candidates
Election Results - Round 1

India (185) - re-elected
Indonesia (182) - re-elected
Philippines (179) - re-elected
Qatar (170) - elected

The Asian Group ran a "clean slate."
By a previous agreement within the Asian Group, all four members whose terms were expiring were to be "grandfathered in" for renewed terms. Bahrain, however, endorsed Qatar as its replacement.
Timor-Leste and Bahrain, not official candidates, each received one vote.

Eastern European Group
Total Seats on Council: 6

Members Whose Terms Expire on June 19, 2007: Czech Republic, Poland

Official Candidates
Belarus (Round 1: 78) (Round 2: 72)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Round 1: 95) (Round 2: 112) - elected
Slovenia (168) - elected

On May 10, after pressure from governments hoping to prevent Belarus from being elected (reportedly including France, the US, and the UK), Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its candidacy. Thus Eastern Europe became one of the only two regions not running a "clean slate."
A concerted lobbying effort culminating on May 16, the day before the election, took place to generate support for Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to media reports, Canada, France, the U.K., and the U.S. came together to coordinate outreach and lobbying to approximately 150 member states. The effort apparently was successful, despite Belarus' support from many fellow members of the Non-aligned Movement, which represents a majority of Member States.
Three states abstained from voting in the first round.
Six abstained in the second round.

Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Group
Total Seats on Council: 8
Members Whose Terms Expire on June 19, 2007: Argentina, Ecuador

Official Candidates
Election Results - Round 1
Bolivia (169) - elected
Nicaragua (174) - elected

LAC ran a "clean slate."
Non-candidates Honduras and Paraguay each received two votes.  Belize, Chile, and Costa Rica each received one vote.
Ten states abstained from voting.

Western European and Other States Group (WEOG)
Total Seats on Council: 7
Members Whose Terms Expire on June 19, 2007: Netherlands, Finland

Official Candidates
Denmark (Round 1: 114) (Round 2: 86)
Italy (Round 1: 114) (Round 2: 101) – elected
Netherlands (121) - re-elected

Comments:
WEOG was one of the only two regions not running a "clean slate." (The other was Eastern Europe.)
Eight states abstained from voting in the first round. Two abstained in the second round.

Election Process
The terms of reference for Human Rights Council members were laid out in General Assembly Resolution 60/251:
<http://www.reformtheun.org/index.php/united_nations/2022>, passed on March 15, 2006. It stated (OP 14) that in order to stagger the three-year terms of membership, the 47 members first elected would draw lots to hold only a one-year or two-year term. The fourteen states which drew the short straw for a one-year term will see their seats expire on June 19, 2007, one year after the convening of the first meeting of the Council. The countries elected last week to replace them will all serve the full three-year term.

Sixteen member states submitted candidacies to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. All included human rights pledges as part of their candidacy. (The submission of pledges was initiated by the General Assembly in Paragraph 8 of the resolution establishing the Council.) Candidates' pledges can be viewed here:
<http://www.reformtheun.org/index.php/government_statements/
c522?theme=alt2>

An absolute majority of General Assembly members - currently 97 - is needed for a candidate to be elected.

Along with the establishment of a universal review of all UN member states (universal periodic review, or UPR), competitive elections for members were anticipated to provide an additional opportunity to strengthen the Council, which has yet to meet the expectations for reform from many member states and civil society groups.  Civil society groups' efforts to ensure a competitive and criteria-based election are included under "Useful Resources" below.

Useful Resources

UN Documents:
Summary of Election Results (from General Assembly)
Human Rights Council's Webpage on HRC Membership
Current Members of the Human Rights Council

Government Documents:
Human Rights Pledges from 2007 Candidates for Election

Civil Society Documents:
Letter to Member States (re: using human rights criteria in voting and excluding 'vote trading') (April 2007) - Amnesty International
Background Information on 2007 Candidates - Amnesty International
Comparison of 2007 Campaign Pledges - Amnesty International
Joint NGO Letter to Member States Calling for "Open Slates"
Results of 2006 HRC Election