New York - China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Cuba and Algeria have won seats on the UN Human Rights Council, riling independent human rights groups who said their election undermines the watchdog's credibility.

The General Assembly elected 14 new members to the 47-seat Geneva-based council, which can shine a spotlight on rights abuses by adopting resolutions - when it chooses to do so. It also has dozens of special monitors watching problem countries and major issues ranging from executions to drone strikes.

Britain, France, the Maldives, Macedonia, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa were also elected to three-year terms.

Human Rights Watch noted that five of the new council members - China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Algeria - have refused to let UN investigators visit to check alleged abuses.

China, Russia and Algeria have 10 or more unfulfilled requests for visits by UN experts, some dating back to 2000, the group said.

"Countries that haven't allowed UN experts appointed by the council to visit have a lot of explaining to do," said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director of the New York-based non-government group. "It's like hiring someone, then not allowing them to enter the office."

Seats, allotted by region, are sometimes contested and sometimes not. All 193 members of the General Assembly can vote by secret ballots, which were collected in wooden ballot boxes from delegates.

Geneva-based UN Watch, a frequent critic of UN rights practices, denounced what it considered the worst new members.

China, Cuba, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Algeria systematically violate the human rights of their own citizens, and they consistently vote the wrong way on UN initiatives to protect the human rights of others, said executive director Hillel Neuer.

"Regrettably, so far neither the US nor the EU have said a word about hypocritical candidacies that will undermine the credibility and effectiveness of the UN human rights system. By turning a blind eye as human rights violators easily join and subvert the council, leading democracies will be complicit in the world body's moral decline."

Saudi Arabia yesterday officially informed UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon that it will not take its seat in the Security Council, clearing the way for Jordan to take the traditional Arab seat on the UN's most powerful body.