Today, the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the cesspool known as the United Nations Human Rights Council. It did so in protest of the presence of notorious human rights abusers on the commission, as well as the commission’s blatant bias against Israel.

Nikki Haley, our splendid U.N. ambassador, issued a blistering critique of the Council, explaining that it has become a “protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias.” She cited the admission of Congo as a member even as mass graves were being discovered there. She also noted the failure to address human rights abuses in Venezuela and Iran.

Haley and Secretary of State Pompeo are to be congratulated for this move. The U.S. should not be associated with such an organization of in any way lend it credibility. We strike a blow for human rights by refusing to be.

The Washington Post’s Carol Morello holds herself out as a reporter, not an editorial writer. However, her report on our withdrawal makes her opinion of the move clear:

The decision to leave the 47-nation body was more definitive than the lesser option of staying on as a nonvoting observer. It represents another retreat by the Trump administration from international groups and agreements whose policies it deems out of sync with American interests on trade, defense, climate change and, now, human rights. And it leaves the council without the United States playing a key role in promoting human rights around the world.

But in this case, Trump is “retreating” from an outfit that the Bush administration also shunned. And Morello’s last sentence is a head-scratcher. A council that includes the likes of China, Cuba, Congo, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela has no role to play in promoting human rights around the world, with or without the U.S.

What are its success stories? One supporter cited North Korea and Syria!

Rep. Eliot Engel, a Democrat, criticized our withdrawal on the theory that the Council will now “run roughshod over Israel.” But, as Morello notes, even with the U.S. on board, the Council passed five resolutions condemning Israel in one day in March.

The U.N. Human Rights Council cannot run roughshod over Israel. It has no power and it has no credibility. Our withdrawal from the Council will help keep things that way.</s>The United States is expected Tuesday to announce it is pulling out of the United Nations' Human Rights Council, according to State Department officials.

Officials speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters from several outlets that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley are expected to make a joint appearance to announce the decision.

Haley threatened last year that the U.S. might pull out of the 47-nation group over its repeated criticism of Israel and inclusion of nations with poor records on human rights. The move follows months of talks on reforming the council.

On Monday, the U.N.'s human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein of Jordan, denounced the U.S. policy of separating parents and children who cross into the United States illegally.</s>The United States is half-way through a three-year term on the UN Human Right Council.</s>The United States announced Tuesday it was leaving the United Nations' Human Rights Council, with Ambassador Nikki Haley calling it "an organization that is not worthy of its name." It was the latest withdrawal by the Trump administration from an international institution.

Haley, Trump's envoy to the U.N., said the U.S. had given the human rights body "opportunity after opportunity" to make changes. She lambasted the council for "its chronic bias against Israel" and lamented the fact that its membership includes accused human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"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 said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, appearing alongside Haley at the State Department, said there was no doubt that the council once had a "noble vision."

But today we need to be honest," Pompeo said. "The Human Rights Council is a poor defender of human rights."

The announcement came just a day after the U.N. human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, denounced the Trump administration for separating migrant children from their parents. But Haley cited longstanding U.S. complaints that the 47-member council is biased against Israel. She had been threatening the pull-out since last year unless the council made changes advocated by the U.S.

"Regrettably, it is now clear that our call for reform was not heeded," Haley said.

Still, she suggested the decision need not be permanent, adding that if the council did adopt reforms, "we would be happy to rejoin it." She said the withdrawal notwithstanding, the U.S. would continue to defend human rights at the United Nations.

The move extends a broader Trump administration pattern of stepping back from international agreements and forums under the president's "America First" policy. Although numerous officials have said repeatedly that "America First does not mean America Alone," the administration has retreated from multiple multilateral accords and consensuses since it took office.

Since January 2017, it has announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, left the U.N. educational and cultural organization and pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. Other contentious moves have included slapping tariffs on steel and aluminum against key trading partners, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Opposition to the decision from human rights advocates was swift. A group of 12 organizations including Save the Children, Freedom House and the United Nations Association - USA said there were "legitimate concerns" about the council's shortcomings but that none of them warranted a U.S. exit.

"This decision is counterproductive to American national security and foreign policy interests and will make it more difficult to advance human rights priorities and aid victims of abuse around the world," the organizations said in a joint statement.

Added Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch: "All Trump seems to care about is defending Israel."

On Twitter, al-Hussein, the U.N. human rights chief, said it was "Disappointing, if not really surprising, news. Given the state of #HumanRights in today's world, the US should be stepping up, not stepping back."

But the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank close to the Trump administration, defended the move, calling the council "notably incurious about the human rights situations in some of the world's most oppressive countries." Brett Schaefer, a senior fellow, pointed out that Trump could have withdrawn immediately after taking office but instead gave the council 18 months to make changes.

Haley has been the driving force behind withdrawing from the human rights body, unprecedented in the 12-year history of the council. No country has ever dropped out voluntarily. Libya was kicked out seven years ago.

The move could reinforce the perception that the Trump administration is seeking to advance Israel's agenda on the world stage, just as it prepares to unveil its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan despite Palestinian outrage over the embassy relocation. Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is visiting the Middle East this week as the White House works to lay the groundwork for unveiling the plan.

Israel is the only country in the world whose rights record comes up for discussion at every council session, under "Item 7" on the agenda. Item 7 on "Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories" has been part of the council's regular business almost as long as it has existed.

The United States' current term on the council ends next year. Although the U.S. could have remained a non-voting observer on the council, a U.S. official said it was a "complete withdrawal" and that the United States was resigning its seat "effective immediately." The official wasn't authorized to comment publicly and insisted on anonymity.

That means the council will be left without one of its traditional defenders of human rights. In recent months, the United States has participated in attempts to pinpoint rights violations in places like South Sudan, Congo and Cambodia.

The U.S. pullout was bound to have ripple effects for at least two countries at the council: China and Israel. The U.S., as at other U.N. organizations, is Israel's biggest defender. At the rights council, the United States has recently been the most unabashed critic of rights abuses in China — whose growing economic and diplomatic clout has chastened some other would-be critics, rights advocates say.

There are 47 countries in the Human Rights Council, elected by the U.N.'s General Assembly with a specific number of seats allocated for each region of the globe. Members serve for three-year terms and can serve only two terms in a row.

The United States has opted to stay out of the Human Rights Council before: The George W. Bush administration opted against seeking membership when the council was created in 2006. The U.S. joined the body only in 2009 under President Barack Obama.

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations. Picture: AP

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations. Picture: AP

THE United States has left the United Nations Human Rights Council in its latest withdrawal from an international institution.

Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the UN, called the human rights body "hypocritical and self-serving" and "not worthy of its name".

Last year Ms Haley accused the council of "chronic anti-Israel bias" and announced the US would review its membership.

She said the Trump administration had given the council "opportunity after opportunity" to make changes.

"We take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organisation that makes a mockery of human rights," Ms Haley said.

The announcement comes a day after the UN human rights chief denounced the Trump administration for separating migrant children from their families.

More to come.</s>US ambassador Nikki Haley says America is withdrawing from the UN human rights council, saying abusers continue to serve on, and be elected to, the council. Haley claims the council continues to politicise and scapegoat countries with 'positive human rights records'. She called it a 'cesspool of political bias' that targets Israel in particular. 'We will continue to lead on human rights outside the misnamed human rights council,' she says.</s>WASHINGTON — The United States announced Tuesday it was leaving the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, with Ambassador Nikki Haley calling it “an organization that is not worthy of its name.” It was the latest withdrawal by the Trump administration from an international institution.

Haley, Trump’s envoy to the U.N., said the U.S. had given the human rights body “opportunity after opportunity” to make changes. She lambasted the council for “its chronic bias against Israel” and lamented the fact that its membership includes accused human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“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 said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, appearing alongside Haley at the State Department, said there was no doubt that the council once had a “noble vision.”

But today we need to be honest,” Pompeo said. “The Human Rights Council is a poor defender of human rights.”

The announcement came just a day after the U.N. human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, denounced the Trump administration for separating migrant children from their parents. But Haley cited longstanding U.S. complaints that the 47-member council is biased against Israel. She had been threatening the pull-out since last year unless the council made changes advocated by the U.S.

“Regrettably, it is now clear that our call for reform was not heeded,” Haley said.

Still, she suggested the decision need not be permanent, adding that if the council did adopt reforms, “we would be happy to rejoin it.” She said the withdrawal notwithstanding, the U.S. would continue to defend human rights at the United Nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called the U.S. decision “courageous,” calling it “an unequivocal statement that enough is enough.”

The move extends a broader Trump administration pattern of stepping back from international agreements and forums under the president’s “America First” policy. Although numerous officials have said repeatedly that “America First does not mean America Alone,” the administration has retreated from multiple multilateral accords and consensuses since it took office.

Since January 2017, it has announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, left the U.N. educational and cultural organization and pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. Other contentious moves have included slapping tariffs on steel and aluminum against key trading partners, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Opposition to the decision from human rights advocates was swift. A group of 12 organizations including Save the Children, Freedom House and the United Nations Association-USA said there were “legitimate concerns” about the council’s shortcomings but that none of them warranted a U.S. exit.

“This decision is counterproductive to American national security and foreign policy interests and will make it more difficult to advance human rights priorities and aid victims of abuse around the world,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

Added Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch: “All Trump seems to care about is defending Israel.”

On Twitter, al-Hussein, the U.N. human rights chief, said it was “Disappointing, if not really surprising, news. Given the state of #HumanRights in today’s world, the US should be stepping up, not stepping back.”

And the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank close to the Trump administration, defended the move, calling the council “notably incurious about the human rights situations in some of the world’s most oppressive countries.” Brett Schaefer, a senior fellow, pointed out that Trump could have withdrawn immediately after taking office but instead gave the council 18 months to make changes.

Haley has been the driving force behind withdrawing from the human rights body, unprecedented in the 12-year history of the council. No country has ever dropped out voluntarily. Libya was kicked out seven years ago.

The move could reinforce the perception that the Trump administration is seeking to advance Israel’s agenda on the world stage, just as it prepares to unveil its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan despite Palestinian outrage over the embassy relocation. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is visiting the Middle East this week as the White House works to lay the groundwork for unveiling the plan.

Israel is the only country in the world whose rights record comes up for discussion at every council session, under “Item 7” on the agenda. Item 7 on “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories” has been part of the council’s regular business almost as long as it has existed.

The United States’ current term on the council ends next year. Although the U.S. could have remained a non-voting observer on the council, a U.S. official said it was a “complete withdrawal” and that the United States was resigning its seat “effective immediately.” The official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and insisted on anonymity.

That means the council will be left without one of its traditional defenders of human rights. In recent months, the United States has participated in attempts to pinpoint rights violations in places like South Sudan, Congo and Cambodia.

The U.S. pullout was bound to have ripple effects for at least two countries at the council: China and Israel. The U.S., as at other U.N. organizations, is Israel’s biggest defender. At the rights council, the United States has recently been the most unabashed critic of rights abuses in China — whose growing economic and diplomatic clout has chastened some other would-be critics, rights advocates say.

There are 47 countries in the Human Rights Council, elected by the U.N.’s General Assembly with a specific number of seats allocated for each region of the globe. Members serve for three-year terms and can serve only two terms in a row.

The United States has opted to stay out of the Human Rights Council before: The George W. Bush administration opted against seeking membership when the council was created in 2006. The U.S. joined the body only in 2009 under President Barack Obama.

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.</s>WASHINGTON: The United States withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday accusing it of a "chronic bias against Israel," a move that activists warned would make advancing human rights globally even more difficult. 



Standing with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Haley slammed Russia, China, Cuba and Egypt for thwarting US efforts to reform the council.

She also criticized countries which shared US values and encouraged Washington to remain but "were unwilling to seriously challenge the status quo."

The United States is half-way through a three-year term on the main U. N. rights body and the Trump administration had long threatened to quit if the 47-member Geneva-based body was not overhauled. "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. 



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."

Washington´s withdrawal is the latest US 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. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra´ad al-Hussein on Monday called on Washington to halt its "unconscionable" 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. Diplomats have said the US withdrawal from the body could bolster countries such as Cuba, Russia, Egypt and Pakistan, which resist what they see as UN interference in sovereign issues. 



Among reforms the United States had been seeking was to make it easier to kick out member state with egregious rights records. Haley said the U. S. withdrawal from the Human Rights Council "is not a retreat from our human rights commitments."

Twelve rights and aids groups, including Human Rights First, Save the Children and CARE, wrote Pompeo to warn the withdrawal would "make it more difficult to advance human rights priorities and aid victims of abuse around the world."

"The US ´s absence will only compound the council´s weaknesses," they wrote. Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union´s Human Rights Program, said Trump´s "misguided policy of isolationism only harms American interests and betrays our values as a nation. "

Jewish rights group the Simon Wiesenthal Center applauded the U. S. withdrawal and urged other countries to do the same. Reuters reported last week that talks on reforming the council had failed to meet Washington´s demands, suggesting the Trump administration would quit. The 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. 



Speaking before the US announcement, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "is a strong believer in the human rights architecture of the U. N. and the active participation of all states."

When the Council was created in 2006, US 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 UN General Assembly.

After a year off, Washington was re-elected in 2016 for its current third term. In March 2011, the U. N. General Assembly unanimously suspended Libya´s membership in the council because of violence against protesters by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. But UN officials said no member has withdrawn. 



Haley said a year ago Washington was reviewing its membership and called for reform and elimination of a "chronic anti-Israel bias." 



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 UN 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.</s>On Monday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein addressed the locking up of immigrant children in camps by the U.S. in a statement to the 38th session of the Human Rights Council saying, “In the past six weeks, nearly two thousand children have been forcibly separated from their parents. The American Association of Pediatrics has called this cruel practice “government-sanctioned child abuse” which may cause “irreparable harm,” with “lifelong consequences”. The thought that any State would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable. I call on the United States to immediately end the practice of forcible separation of these children.”

One day later, in response to those comments, the Trump administration pulled out of the Human Rights Council, with U.N. Ambassador Nicki Haley saying, “For too long the Human Rights Council has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias.”

The United States once held the had the lead in international advocacy for human rights around the globe and has been outspoken in the protection of human rights, with its withdrawal from the council, that voice will be noticeably diminished.

Sen. Chris Coons was among those who were dismayed at the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw, said, “The U.N. Human Rights Council isn’t perfect, but withdrawing the United States from this important body sends a clear message that the Trump administration does not intend to lead the world when it comes to human rights, it also makes it harder for the United States to prevent the Human Rights Council from taking positions we oppose.“

The withdrawal was expected and the Trump administration hinted at the idea over a year ago, and with the appointment of John Bolton as National Security Advisor of the United States, the withdrawal was not as much an “if,” but a “when.”</s>UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed rights groups on Wednesday for thwarting Washington’s attempts to reform the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council and said they had contributed to the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw.

In a letter to at least 17 rights and aid groups, seen by Reuters, Haley berated them for urging countries not to support a U.S.-drafted General Assembly resolution titled “Improving the Effectiveness of the Human Rights Council.”

“It is unfortunate that your letter sought to undermine our attempts to improve the Human Rights Council. You put yourself on the side of Russia and China, and opposite the United States, on a key human rights issue,” Haley wrote.

“You should know that your efforts to block negotiations and thwart reform were a contributing factor in the U.S. decision to withdraw from the council,” she said in the letter that was received by groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

The United States withdrew on Tuesday from what Haley dubbed a “hypocritical and self-serving” Human Rights Council over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform. The United States was half-way through a three-year term on the Geneva-based 47-member body.

Human Rights Watch U.N. director Louis Charbonneau said the U.S. draft General Assembly resolution “could have backfired badly and the process could have been hijacked” by the countries seeking to undermine the Human Rights Council.

“This suggestion that somehow it’s the human rights groups that are undermining the U.S. attempts to improve the Human Rights Council is preposterous,” said Charbonneau. “The idea that we human rights groups are aligned with Russia and China - countries that we criticize all the time - is absurd.”

China, Britain and the European Union lamented on Wednesday Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Human Rights Council as Western countries began looking for a substitute for the coveted seat.

Russia’s mission to the U.N. in New York posted on Twitter late on Tuesday: “U.S. attempts to blame the whole world for the politicization of HRC work are especially cynical. The response of international community was clear - U.S. found themselves isolated in this issue.”

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. The United States has also quit the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO over accusations of anti-Israel bias.
The United States announces its withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council.