The commission will continue until the creation of a council. The proposed new council is a major improvement.

The EU largely ignored human rights abuses by its friends in Africa. It was very good about speaking out against the pariah Zimbabwe. But when it came to Angola, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, there was little if anything said.

The hypocrisy factor has encouraged copycat techniques around the world by people who do like the U.S. does and has also weakened the United States as one of the traditional important supporters of human rights.

Iran will be the litmus test for whether China will become a responsible stakeholder in the world.

If you're a thug, you want to be on the committee that tries to condemn thugs.

If the U.S. accepts this consensus, the proposal is likely to be adopted. But if the U.S. insists on further amendments, we are likely to be worse off. Countries hostile to human rights protection are keen to introduce amendments that would weaken the new council.

In a one-party system intolerant of dissent, petitioning is one of the only ways that ordinary Chinese have to air their grievances.

The Mexican government needs to ensure that rape victims do not have to endure dangerous back-alley abortions or imposed pregnancies. A public official who fails to inform rape victims of how they can obtain a voluntary legal abortion is contributing to a human rights violation and should be disciplined.

Armed conflicts often involve discrepancies of power between adversaries. Allowing those discrepancies to justify attacking civilians would create an immense loophole in the protections of international humanitarian law.

The new council should be a great improvement over the old Commission, but today's vote is only the beginning. Its ability to protect the weakest will now depend on the commitment of governments to curb rights violations.