China, Russia and Cuba were among 15 countries elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, drawing strong opposition from human rights groups, who cited their history of rights violations.

The newly elected countries will serve for three years on the 47-member UN body, tasked with upholding human rights standards, addressing violations and making recommendations for accountability.

While the latest election involved filling vacancies for each continent, only the Asia-Pacific region had more countries campaigning than the number of seats needed to be filled. Russia and Cuba, for instance, joined the Council without contest.

In the Asia-Pacific, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Nepal were elected to fill the four vacancies, with only Saudi Arabia failing to secure enough votes.

Human Rights Watch UN director Louis Charbonneau said while Saudi Arabia's failure to win is a welcome reminder of the need for more electoral competition at the UN, had there been more candidates, China, Cuba and Russia might have also lost.

The Human Rights Foundation(HRF) and other groups previously released a 30-page rights record report ahead of the vote, singling out China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia and Uzbekistan as being unqualified for the council.