GENEVA - The UN Human Rights Council today elected Ambassador Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro, Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, to serve as president of the Geneva-based body for a one-year term ending 31 December 2026. Mr. Suryodipuro, nominated by the Group of Asia-Pacific States, will preside over the Council during its 20th cycle, which marks two decades since the Council was founded in 2006.
"As we mark the Council's 20th anniversary, I have reflected on its history as an important guide for charting our path forward," Mr. Suryodipuro said. "From the Council's establishment, despite differing views, Member States set aside divisions in recognition of the Council's promise to promote universal respect for the protection of all human rights."
He added: "We believe that the Council must remain faithful to the core principles of universality, objectivity, and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues, treating all human rights - including the right to development - in a fair and equal manner."
The Council also elected Ambassador Marcelo Vàzquez Bermúdez, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, who was nominated by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, to serve as a vice-president in the four-person Bureau that supports the President in his duties.
Ambassadors Tsegab Kebebew Daka of Ethiopia (Group of African States), Riia Salsa-Audiffren of Estonia (Group of Eastern European States) and Marcos Gómez Martínez of Spain (Group of Western European and Other States) were elected to the Bureau at an earlier meeting.
In addition, the Council adopted a draft three-year programme of work for 2026-2028 that reflects the non-implementation of certain activities previously mandated by the Council in the context of the United Nations liquidity and financial crisis.
The Council also selected by lot "troikas" (groups of three states that act as rapporteurs) for states undergoing in review in the upcoming 51st, 52nd, and 53rd sessions of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in 2026. The list of "troikas" is published here.
Prior to his appointment to Geneva in November 2025, Mr. Suryodipuro served as Director-General for Cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indonesia's Senior Official to the Association, chairing the Association's Senior Officials' Meeting during Indonesia's Chairmanship in 2023. He also represented Indonesia in several diplomatic posts, including as Ambassador to India and Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington D.C., United States of America, and on assignments to the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations in New York and the Embassy of Indonesia in Canberra, Australia.
The meeting was webcast on UN Web TV.
The Council is scheduled to meet next for the 51st session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, running from 19 to 30 January 2026.
