US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkan announced today (Monday) that President Joe Biden’s administration will return to the UN Human Rights Council as an observer state. The United States withdrew from the Council in June 2018 at the initiative of former President Donald Trump due to “disproportionate focus on Israel.”
Blink wrote on Twitter that “the Human Rights Council is flawed and needs reform, but leaving the council will not fix it,” adding that “the best way to improve the council, so that it can realize its potential, is through solid and principled American leadership. Under Biden, we We are ready to lead again. “
Blinkan also wrote that “the Human Rights Council shines a spotlight on countries with the worst human rights backgrounds, and it can serve as a beacon for those fighting against injustice. That is why the United States has returned to the Council. When we work closely with our allies and comrades, we are able to call countries with the worst records of human rights accountable. “
In June 2018, the then US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nicky Haley, announced that the United States was withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council, in part because of its attitude toward Israel. “As we said, the United States is resigning from the Human Rights Council. We are not resigning. “From the commitment to human rights. On the contrary, we are retiring because of it.”
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“A year ago I went to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and declared that we would only stay on the council if there were reforms,” Haley said in a White House statement. “They were needed for the council to truly protect human rights. For a long time they defended human rights violators. As we said, the United States is retiring from the Human Rights Council. We do not resign from our commitment to human rights. On the contrary, we are retiring because of it. ”
“We did not make that decision easily,” she continued, “when this administration began 17 months ago, we were well aware of the enormous shortcomings in the Human Rights Council. We could have backtracked immediately. Instead we made an effort to solve the problems. In September President Trump called for council members to support reforms. “Every country we met with us agreed behind closed doors, but no country joined us. In the meantime, the situation has worsened.”
Haley attacked the council for “a relentless campaign against Israel. It proves that the council is driven by politics and not by human rights.” Hailey added that “there are two reasons why the reforms failed. One, because there are a lot of states that do not want the council to be effective. The second reason is that there are states that share the same ideas, but these states were not willing to challenge the status quo. “They were afraid to make a move behind closed doors. We will continue to fight for human rights outside the Human Rights Council. If they do the reforms, we will be happy to return to the Human Rights Council. We are resigning from the unworthy council.”