Russia has been defeated in its bid to regain a seat in the United Nations body that deals with human rights issues.

At the General Assembly session in New York on Tuesday, UN member countries cast their votes for the candidates vying for Human Rights Council seats.

Japan, China and Cuba are among the members who were elected. Russia was unable to win a seat.

The council is based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is made up of 47 member states. The council discusses ways in which the international community should respond, when grave human rights violations are committed somewhere in the world.

In April 2022, the General Assembly voted to suspend Russia's membership in the council, following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

In September, it emerged that Russia had been making a bid to become a member of the council again in 2024.
Council memberships last for three years.

Ahead of the vote, Human Rights Watch, an international nongovernmental organization, mentioned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as well as the human rights situation in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The group said that the UN member countries "should deny Russia and China seats" on the council.