WASHINGTON. The Biden administration will announce this week the return of the United States to the UN Human Rights Council from which former President Donald Trump withdrew nearly three years ago. US officials reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a senior US diplomat in Geneva will announce today that Washington will return to the body as an observer with the aim of becoming a full member. The decision is likely to draw criticism from conservative lawmakers and many members of the pro-Israel community.
Trump withdrew from the world’s leading human rights agency in 2018 due to his enormous focus on Israel, which has received by far the most critical council resolutions of any other country, as well as the number of authoritarian countries among its members and because it failed to meet an extensive list of reforms requested by then US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. In addition to the Council’s persistent focus on Israel, the Trump administration has challenged members of the body, which currently includes China, Cuba, Eritrea, Russia and Venezuela, all accused of human rights violations.
A senior US official said the Biden administration believes the Council has yet to reform, but that the best way to promote change is “to engage with it in principle.” The official said it could be “an important forum for those fighting tyranny and injustice around the world” and that the US presence is meant to “ensure it can live up to that potential.”
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