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By Claudia Parsons
UNITED NATIONS, May 21 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka failed to win a seat on the much-criticized U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday in an election that also saw France and Britain edge out Spain to take two seats reserved for Western countries.
Sri Lanka's defeat was welcomed by human rights campaigners who criticized its record during a 25-year civil war with Tamil rebels, citing torture, attacks on aid workers and other violations of international human rights standards.
The 47-member Geneva-based council was set up two years ago to replace the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which was widely criticized for failing to overcome political alliances and take a strong stand on issues including China's rights record.
But the new council has also been criticized for not taking a strong enough stand against violence in Tibet and Darfur and for singling out Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians.
Steve Crawshaw of Human Rights Watch welcomed Sri Lanka's defeat, saying that of the 19 countries vying for the 15 vacant seats, it was the one with the worst human rights record.
"It will be important for the future because I hope that authoritarian regimes with poor records will be much more wary of putting themselves forward," said Crawshaw, whose group led a campaign by rights organizations against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told Reuters Colombo was pleased to have won 101 votes despite an "intense campaign" against it.
"They have done a very subjective campaign, they were only putting forward one side of the story," Samarasinghe said.
"They were not talking about the substantial progress that Sri Lanka made and, as far as we are concerned, we will continue to show."
'FOXES GUARDING THE CHICKENS'
France and Britain beat Spain to take two seats for Western European and other states. In Asia, Japan, Bahrain, South Korea and Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka and East Timor to take four seats available. Ukraine and Slovakia defeated Serbia and the Czech Republic to take two Eastern European seats.
Gabon, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Zambia were the only candidates in the running for the four seats allocated to Africa. Argentina, Brazil and Chile were also uncontested.
U.S. mission spokesman Richard Grenell said the United States had participated in the vote even though it considers the Human Rights Council a "discredited" institution.
The council's membership already includes three countries -- China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia -- whose governments rights groups say are among the world's most oppressive.
Rights group UN Watch had called on the U.N. General Assembly, the 192 members of the United Nations that met on Wednesday to elect the new members, to vote against Bahrain, Gabon, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zambia.
UN Watch said after the vote that while it was pleased by Sri Lanka's defeat, it was concerned about some who won.
"Unless the UN stops electing the worst violators to the Human Rights Council, we will continue to have the foxes guarding the chickens," said Hillel Neuer of UN Watch.
(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal in Colombo)
(Reporting by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
