The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that the United States will seek reentry into the United Nations Human Rights Council after an exit under President Donald Trump in 2018.
“Today, the administration took an important step in that direction by announcing the U.S. intent to seek election to a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council starting in January 2022,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “The United States has long been a champion of human rights. If elected to the Human Rights Council, we will use the opportunity to be a leading voice within the Council for promoting respect for human rights.”
“The United States is committed to a world in which human rights are protected, their defenders are celebrated, and those who commit human rights abuses are held accountable,” he continued. “Promoting respect for human rights is not something we can do alone, but is best accomplished working with our allies and partners across the globe. President Biden is committed to a foreign policy that unites our democratic values with our diplomatic leadership, and one that is centered on the defense of democracy and the protection of human rights.”
Trump’s administration left the council in June 2018 after top brass accused the U.N. organization of hypocrisy and bias against Israel.
‘A CONSTRUCTIVE FORCE’: BIDEN RETURNS TO UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ABANDONED BY TRUMP
“I want to make it crystal clear that this step is not a retreat from human rights commitments,” then-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said at the time. “On the contrary, we take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights.”
Haley added that the council “ceases to be worthy of its name” after she posited that the 47-member organization ignored abuses in Venezuela and Congo.
Although Blinken acknowledged an “unacceptable bias against Israel” and “membership rules that allow countries with atrocious human rights records to occupy seats,” the secretary of state said he seeks to put forth an effort toward “improving” the council’s shortcomings.
“The Human Rights Council is an important multilateral venue dedicated to furthering international human rights efforts and has played a critical role in promoting accountability for human rights violations and abuses,” he said. “From investigations into abuses in Syria and North Korea to promoting the human rights for women and LGBTQI persons and other minorities, and combatting racism and religious persecution, the Human Rights Council must support those fighting against injustice and tyranny.”
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Biden’s administration signaled that it would make an effort to rejoin the U.N. body in a bid to bolster global relations.
“We recognize the U.N. Human Rights Council has its flaws, but we also believe it can help promote fundamental freedoms around the world,” Olivia Alair Dalton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said. “The only way we can ensure the Human Rights Council fulfills this important mandate is by being at the table as an observer and working with our partners and allies in a principled fashion to make it better.”
