Table of Contents
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
The US has pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling it a “cesspool of political bias”.
Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the UN, said it was a “hypocritical” body that “makes a mockery of human rights”.
Announcing the decision to quit the council, Ms Haley described the council as a “hypocritical and self-serving organisation” that displayed “unending hostility towards Israel”.
THE RIFT
She was speaking alongside US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who denounced the council as “a protector of human rights abusers”.
REACTION
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres responded to the US decision to quit the council by
saying he would have “much preferred” the US to remain a member.
The UN’s human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called the US withdrawal “disappointing, if not really surprising, news”. Israel, meanwhile, praised the decision.
ZEID RA’AD AL-HUSSEIN
Among those posing with the him are Faiz Naqushbandi of the
All Party Hurriyat Conference in Pakistan, Sardar Amjad Yousaf, Altaf Hussain and Ghulam Hassan. Tehreek e Hurriyat
NOT THE FIRST TIME U.S IS LEAVING
• The United States has always had a conflicting relationship with the UN Human Rights Council. The Bush Administration decided to boycott the council when it was created in 2006 for many of the same reasons cited by the Trump administration.
• The then UN ambassador was John Bolton – who is currently President Trump’s national security adviser and a strong critic of the UN.
• It wasn’t until years later, in 2009, that the United States re-joined under the Obama administration.
WHAT IS THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL?
• The UN set up the council in 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights, which faced widespread criticism for letting countries with poor human rights records
become members.
• A group of 47 elected countries from different global regions serve for three-year terms on the council.
• The headquarters of UNHRC is in Geneva, Switzerland.
WHY HAS THE US DECIDED TO QUIT?
• The country initially refused to join the council in 2006, arguing that, like the old commission, the UNHRC had admitted nations with questionable human rights records.
• But human rights groups voiced fresh complaints about the body in 2013, after China, Russia, Saudia Arabia, Algeria and Vietnam were elected members.
• This followed Israel’s unprecedented boycott of one of the council’s reviews, alleging unfair criticism from the body.
OTHER REASONS
• President Trump’s decision to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un without raising human rights concerns.
•Mexico border issue
• Child separation policy
WhatsApp