Washington DC: The United States is officially a member of the controversial United Nations Human Rights Council again, reversing former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal three years ago.
The US was elected in an uncontested ballot of member countries by the UN General Assembly. President Joe Biden had said he would return the US to the Geneva-based organization. Cameroon, Eritrea and the United Arab Emirates also joined the Human Rights Council on Thursday despite concerns over their own domestic records voiced by human rights organizations. The US got 168 votes, a slight drop from what other countries received to get three-year terms.
The UN Human Rights Council describes itself as “an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.”
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement celebrating the American reentry to the council that the US’ initial efforts on the council will focus on Afghanistan, Myanmar, China, Ethiopia, Syria and Yemen. She said the US’ goals will be to “stand with human rights defenders and speak out against violations and abuses of human rights.”
“More broadly, we will promote respect for fundamental freedoms and women’s rights, and oppose religious intolerance, racial and ethnic injustices, and violence and discrimination against members of minority groups, including LGBTQI+ persons and persons with disabilities,” she continued, adding that the US “will press against the election of countries with egregious human rights records and encourage those committed to promoting and protecting human rights both in their own countries and abroad to seek membership.”
Notably, Thomas-Greenfield said the US “will oppose the Council’s disproportionate attention on Israel, which includes the Council’s only standing agenda item targeting a single country. “
Then-US Ambassador the UN Nikki Haley accused the council of bias against Israel and failing to hold human rights abusers accountable when the US left the panel in 2018.
“For too long,” Haley said in 2018, “the Human Rights Council has been a protector of human rights abusers, and a cesspool of political bias.”
“Human rights abusers continue to serve on, and be elected to, the council,” she said. “The world’s most inhumane regimes continue to escape its scrutiny, and the council continues politicizing scapegoating of countries with positive human rights records in an attempt to distract from the abusers in its ranks. AFP
