US Is Leaving UN Human Rights Council

Nikki Haley had been threatening the move
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 19, 2018 5:14 PM CDT
US Withdraws From UN Human Rights Council
This is a Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2008 file photo, showing a general view of the Human Rights Room (Room XX) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.   (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, File)

The United States announced Tuesday it was leaving the United Nations' Human Rights Council, with Ambassador Nikki Haley calling it "an organization that is not worthy of its name." It was the latest withdrawal by the Trump administration from an international institution. Haley, Trump's envoy to the UN, said the US had given the human rights body "opportunity after opportunity" to make changes, the AP reports. She lambasted the council for "its chronic bias against Israel" and lamented the fact that its membership includes accused human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "We take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights," Haley said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, appearing alongside Haley at the State Department, said there was no doubt that the council once had a "noble vision." "But today we need to be honest," Pompeo said. "The Human Rights Council is a poor defender of human rights." Haley had been threatening the pull-out since last year unless the council made changes advocated by the US. "Regrettably, it is now clear that our call for reform was not heeded," Haley said. Still, she suggested the decision need not be permanent, adding that if the council did adopt reforms, "we would be happy to rejoin it." She said the withdrawal notwithstanding, the US would continue to defend human rights at the United Nations. The move extends a broader Trump administration pattern of stepping back from international agreements and forums under the president's "America First" policy. Since January 2017, it has announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, left the UN educational and cultural organization, and pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal.

(More United Nations Human Rights Council stories.)

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