At the opening of the 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 30, 2020.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday (Feb. 24) that the United States will seek to return to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The move was challenged by former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
In a video, Blinken said, “I am pleased to announce that the United States will seek election to the Human Rights Council for 2022 to 2024. We respectfully ask for the support of all U.N. member states to return to a seat on the Human Rights Council.”
The 193-member U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote for new Council members, this October.
The secretary of state also said in a statement that the Human Rights Council is an important multilateral venue dedicated to promoting international human rights efforts and plays a key role in promoting accountability for human rights violations and abuses. In the statement, he cited human rights persecution in Syria and North Korea, as well as other human rights issues such as minority human rights, racism and religious persecution.
In his video address, Blinken said the United States will focus on abuses in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran, among other places. He also reiterated U.S. calls for Russia to release opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the hundreds of people detained during the protests.
He said, “When atrocities are committed in Xinjiang or basic freedoms are undermined in Hong Kong, we will advocate for universal values.” He was referring to the Chinese Communist Party‘s persecution of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region and Beijing‘s crackdown on freedom in Hong Kong.
Blinken also said the Human Rights Council must support those who fight injustice and tyranny.
“Those countries with the worst human rights records should not be members of the council,” he said.
But Blinken also stressed the need to work together to improve the work and membership of the HRC so that more can be done to promote human rights in countries around the world.
The Trump administration announced its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, arguing that the body was neither effective in defending human rights and that countries with poor human rights records, such as Communist China, Russia, Cuba and Venezuela, dominated the Council’s decisions after becoming members.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Hiley tweeted questioning the Biden administration’s latest move, saying Biden wants to get back to working with a group of tyrants and dictators.
“The United States should not put its trust in the hypocritical UN Human Rights Council. This organization is responsible for covering up the world’s worst human rights abuses and spends most of its Time attacking Israel.” Haley said.
Republican members of Congress have been opposed to a return of the U.S. to the U.N. Human Rights Council. On Feb. 5 of this year, more than 40 Republican lawmakers sent a joint letter to Biden asking that the U.S. not be allowed back into the organization.
“Since its inception in 2006, the Human Rights Council has failed to seriously advance the fundamental purposes of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has instead supported some of the world’s most oppressive regimes.” The lawmakers wrote, “It would be morally reprehensible for the United States to join a body that systematically protects the world’s worst regions from accountability.”
The Republican lawmakers noted that between 2006 and 2019, the UN Human Rights Council “disproportionately targeted” Israel while failing to pass any resolutions on alleged human rights violations against the Chinese Communist Party, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other countries.
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