\u201cAll victims of human rights abuses should be able to look to the Human Rights Council as a forum and a springboard for action.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2013 Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, 12 March 2007, Opening of the 4th Human Rights Council Session<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cLack of access to justice, the official impunity, the possibility of arbitrary detention\u2026.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> These are not statements about a country you would expect to be joining the world\u2019s highest Human Rights body. The country in question is, of course, China, which was described in such terms last month by the BBC<\/a>. At the same time, the UN itself was criticizing<\/a>\u00a0China\u2019s Human Rights record.<\/p>\n The US has voiced some reservations to the idea of China being on the council:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re concerned that China suppresses freedoms of assembly, association, religion, and expression,\u201d Uzra Zeya, the acting assistant secretary in the State Department\u2019s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, said at the review [of candidates for the council]. China \u201charasses, detains, and punishes activists,\u2026 targets rights defenders\u2019 family members and friends, and implements policies that undermine the human rights of ethnic minorities.\u201d (via CSM<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So it comes as little surprise that a mass movement has sought to block China from joining the council.\u00a0<\/span>Currently the petition sight Avaaz has 965,000 signatures<\/a> (and is seeking 1 million before the Tuesday vote). The Tibet Network<\/a> has released the following video in support of the petition:<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Keep](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/83\/2013\/11\/china-off-UN-Human-Rights-Council-300x167.jpg\" "\\"china")