U.S. Withdraws From UN Human Rights Council

The United States withdrew on Tuesday from the world’s most important human rights body, as a protest of its frequent criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. It was the latest effort by the Trump administration to pull away from international organizations and agreements that it finds objectionable, The New York Times writes.

The United States now joins Iran, North Korea and Eritrea as the only countries that refuse to participate in the council’s meetings and deliberations – and marks the first time a member has voluntarily left the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“Earlier this year, as it has in previous years, the Human Rights Council passed five resolutions against Israel — more than the number passed against North Korea, Iran and Syria combined. This disproportionate focus and unending hostility toward Israel is clear proof that the council is motivated by political bias, not by human rights,” Nikki Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said in a speech on Tuesday.

“If the Human Rights Council is going to attack countries that uphold human rights and shield countries that abuse human rights, then America should not provide it with any credibility,” she stressed.

Human rights advocates denounced the decision, noting that “all Washington seems to care about is defending Israel”.

“All this administration seems to care about when it comes to the council is defending Israel. If the Trump administration’s complaint is that the council is biased and flawed, they’ve just made it more so,” said John Sifton, an advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit organization.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision. “The U.S. decision to leave this prejudiced body is an unequivocal statement that enough is enough,” he tweeted on Tuesday.

But Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, said through a spokeswoman that he would have preferred that the United States remained in the council, noting that the United Nations’ human rights “architecture” plays an important role in the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide.

The Times adds that conservatives have been complaining about the council since its inception in 2006, and the administration of President George W. Bush refused to join the body, citing concerns of bias. Haley has been a fierce critic of the council since joining the Trump administration and is known to have pushed for a withdrawal.

She has continuously castigated the 47-member Human Rights Council, calling it a haven for hypocrisy and an outlet for isolating Israel, the United States’ main ally in the Middle East.

Last year Haley addressed the council at its opening session in Geneva with a sharply critical speech, questioning whether it “even supports human rights or is merely a showcase for dictatorships that use their membership to whitewash their brutality.”