The United States on Tuesday 19 June 2018 announced its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, marking the latest departure by the Trump administration from an international institution. US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the council had failed to conduct the “major, dramatic and systematic changes” required by the United States.
“As we said we would do a year ago, if we did not see any progress, the United State is officially withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council,” Haley said at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
She accused the council of being “a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias.” She also criticized the council as a “hypocritical and self-serving organization,” saying that it has rendered membership to unworthy nations and harbored “disproportionate focus and unending hostility towards Israel.”
The exit marks the latest US departure from multinational organizations and treaties after it pulled out of the Paris climate accord, the UN global compact on migration, UN culture and education body UNESCO, as well as the Iran nuclear deal.
Shortly after the US announcement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced his regret over the US decision.
“The secretary-general would have much preferred for the United States to remain in the Human Rights Council,” Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief’s spokesman, said in a note to correspondents. “The UN’s Human Rights architecture plays a very important role in the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide.”
Also, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein responded that the US withdrawal from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council is “disappointing, if not really surprising.”
“Given the state of Human Rights in today’s world, the U.S. should be stepping up, not stepping back,” Zeid said on Twitter.
20/6/18
Thursday June 21, 2018.
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