[JURIST] US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton [official profile] and representatives from other UN member countries resumed negotiations Wednesday on the creation of a new UN rights watchdog to replace the Human Rights Commission [official website]. At the closed door meeting, Bolton presented several proposals [prepared remarks] and cautioned that allowing countries who commit human rights abuses to serve on the body "mocks the legitimacy of the Commission and the United Nations itself." During the September summit on UN reform [JURIST news archive], UN members agreed to create a new rights council [JURIST report] and negotiators hope to reach agreement on the final terms [JURIST report] of the proposed council before the Commission's next scheduled meeting in March. Bolton has proposed that countries under Security Council sanctions for rights violations should be "categorically excluded" from sitting on the new council and that there should be no more than 30 members, with fair representation of regions. Reuters has more. The UN News Centre has additional coverage.