U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, flanked by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announced the U.S.’ withdrawal from the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday.
“This step is not a retreat from human rights commitments,” Haley said at the State Department. “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.”
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Pompeo and Haley, the two most visible faces of American diplomacy, argued that the council has been corrupted by dictatorial regimes. Council members blocked investigations into their home countries, Haley argued, while maintaining a pronounced bias against Israel.
“We have no doubt that there was once a noble vision for this council, but today we need to be honest,” Pompeo said. “The Human Rights Council is a poor defender of human rights. But worse than that, the Human Rights Council has become an exercise in shameless hypocrisy with many of the world’s worst human rights abuses going ignored.”
Haley cited the recent election of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the council as fresh evidence of its dysfunction. She accused Russia, China, Cuba, and Egypt of “attempt[ing] to undermine” U.S. efforts to reform the council.
“A credible Human Rights Council poses a real threat to them so they oppose the steps that would create it,” said Haley. “American participation is the last shred of credibility that the council has, but that is precisely why we must leave.”
The decision drew immediate support from some quarters of Capitol Hill. “Long overdue!” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted.
On the other hand, a top Democratic lawmaker argued that the withdrawal is a mistake precisely because of the corruption that Haley recounted. “By withdrawing from the council, we lose our leverage and allow the council’s bad actors to follow their worst impulses unchecked—including running roughshod over Israel,” Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Tuesday afternoon.
Haley pledged to lead on such issues fro “outside the misnamed Human Rights Council,” while recalling that the UN Security Council has convened to discuss issues ignored by the lower panel.
“Should it become reformed, we would be happy to rejoin it,” she said.
