WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS
(Reuters) - The United States withdrew from a "hypocritical and
self-serving" United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday over what it
called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform, a move activists
warned would make advancing human rights globally even more difficult.
Standing with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at
the State Department, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed
Russia, China, Cuba and Egypt for thwarting U.S. efforts to reform the council.
She also criticized countries which shared U.S. values and encouraged
Washington to remain, but "were unwilling to seriously challenge the
status quo."
Washington's withdrawal is the latest U.S. rejection
of multilateral engagement after it pulled out of the Paris climate agreement
and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
It also comes as the United States faces intense
criticism for detaining children separated from their immigrant parents at the
U.S.-Mexico border. U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein on Monday
called on Washington to halt its "unconscionable" policy.
"Look at the council membership, and you see an
appalling disrespect for the most basic rights," said Haley, citing
Venezuela, China, Cuba and Democratic Republic of Congo. She did not mention
Saudi Arabia, which rights groups pushed to be suspended in 2016 over killings
of civilians in the Yemen war.
Among reforms the United States had pushed for was to
make it easier to kick out member states with egregious rights records.
Currently a two-thirds majority vote by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly is
needed to suspend a member state.
Haley also said the "disproportionate focus and
unending hostility toward Israel is clear proof that the council is motivated
by political bias, not by human rights." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu welcomed the U.S. decision.
The United States has long shielded its ally Israel at
the United Nations. In citing what it says is bias against Israel, the
administration of President Donald Trump could further fuel Palestinian
arguments that Washington cannot be a neutral mediator as it prepares to roll
out a Middle East peace plan. Washington also relocated its embassy to
Jerusalem after recognizing it as the capital of Israel, reversing decades of
U.S. policy.
The United States is half-way through a three-year
term on the 47-member Geneva-based body and the Trump administration had long
threatened to quit if it was not overhauled.
'MISGUIDED POLICY'
Rights groups have criticized the Trump administration
for not making human rights a priority in its foreign policy. Critics say this
sends a message that the administration turns a blind eye to human rights
abuses in some parts of the world.
"Given the state of human rights in today's
world, the U.S. should be stepping up, not stepping back," Zeid said after
Haley announced the U.S. withdrawal.
Reuters reported last week that talks on reforming the
council had failed to meet Washington's demands, suggesting the Trump
administration would quit.
"The Human Rights Council enables abuses by
absolving wrongdoers through silence and falsely condemning those that
committed no offense," Pompeo said.
Diplomats have said the U.S. withdrawal could bolster
countries such as Cuba, Russia, Egypt and Pakistan, which resist what they see
as U.N. interference in sovereign issues.
Haley said the withdrawal "is not a retreat from
our human rights commitments."
Twelve rights and aid groups, including Human Rights
First, Save the Children and CARE, warned Pompeo the U.S. withdrawal would
"make it more difficult to advance human rights priorities and aid victims
of abuse around the world."
Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties
Union's Human Rights Program, said Trump's "misguided policy of
isolationism only harms American interests."
The EU said Washington's decision "risks
undermining the role of the U.S. as a champion and supporter of democracy on
the world stage." British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it was
regrettable and that the council was the "best tool the international
community has to address impunity."
FIRST MEMBER TO WITHDRAW
The Human Rights Council meets three times a year to
examine human rights violations worldwide. It has mandated independent
investigators to look at situations including Syria, North Korea, Myanmar and
South Sudan. Its resolutions are not legally binding but carry moral authority.
When the Council was created in 2006, U.S. President
George W. Bush's administration shunned the body.
Under President Barack Obama the United States was
elected for a maximum two consecutive terms on the council by the U.N. General
Assembly. After a year off, Washington was re-elected in 2016 for its current
third term.
U.N. officials said the United States would be the
first member to withdraw from the council.
Haley said a year ago that Washington was reviewing
its membership. The body has a permanent standing agenda item on suspected
violations committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories that
Washington wanted removed.
The council last month voted to probe killings in Gaza
and accused Israel of using excessive force. The United States and Australia
cast the only "no" votes.
"The U.N. Human Rights Council has played an
important role in such countries as North Korea, Syria, Myanmar and South
Sudan, but all Trump seems to care about is defending Israel," said Human
Rights Watch executive director Ken Roth.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington,
Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Writing by Michelle
Nichols, Editing by Yara Bayoumy and James Dalgleish)
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