US wins second term on UN rights group

The United States has been re-elected to another term on the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, the U.S. State Department announced Monday. The U.N. General Assembly voted to give the United States a second term, the department said in a statement. The election was "a highly competitive race among several qualified Western candidates that are all strong champions of human rights," the department said. The United States was one of five candidates for three seats.The other candidates were Germany, Greece, Ireland and Sweden. Germany and Ireland won the other seats. "While much hard work remains to be done, especially ending the council's disproportionate and biased focus on Israel, we look forward to cooperating with other council members to continue to address human rights concerns and to ensure that the council fully realizes its promise," the statement added. The United States had been absent from the sometimes controversial council until 2009, when the Obama administration sought and won a seat.