Forty parliamentarians and human rights activists from 19 different countries have united in an effort to block Venezuela's bid for a seat on the U.N.'s top rights body.

The group also has called for a resolution to condemn the Chavez government for gross violations.

"One year after the U.N. finally removed Col. Qaddafi's regime from its Human Rights Council, the organization is quietly planning to elect one of his key backers," Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, said in a press release. "It's absurd."

"If Chavez is chosen, the U.N. will grant legitimacy to a regime led by an ailing autocrat that systematically harasses journalists, judges, human rights activists and student leaders, and a top supporter of the butchers of Syria and Iran," Neuer said.

Venezuela is currently running for the seat uncontested. Libya ran in 2010 in an uncontested election and was granted a seat.