• Burmese
Saturday, May 17, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Ashburn
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News

US Quits UN Human Rights Body, Citing Bias vs Israel, Alarming Critics

Reuters by Reuters
June 20, 2018
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks to the press together with US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, announcing the US's withdrawal from the UN's Human Rights Council at the State Department in Washington, U.S., June 19, 2018. / Reuters

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks to the press together with US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, announcing the US's withdrawal from the UN's Human Rights Council at the State Department in Washington, U.S., June 19, 2018. / Reuters

3.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS — 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 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed Russia, China, Cuba and Egypt for thwarting US efforts to reform the council. She also criticized countries that shared US values and encouraged Washington to remain, but “were unwilling to seriously challenge the status quo.”

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.

RelatedPosts

Three Japanese Firms Ditch Myanmar Port Project

Three Japanese Firms Ditch Myanmar Port Project

May 15, 2025
3.5k
Remembering Myanmar Political Prisoners Killed at Quake-Devastated Obo Prison

Remembering Myanmar Political Prisoners Killed at Quake-Devastated Obo Prison

May 9, 2025
494
New Year Honors List: A Who’s Who of Genocide, Sanctions, and Misrule

New Year Honors List: A Who’s Who of Genocide, Sanctions, and Misrule

April 19, 2025
3.4k

It also comes as the United States faces intense criticism for detaining children separated from their immigrant parents at the US-Mexico border. UN 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 UN 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 US 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 US 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 US should be stepping up, not stepping back,” Zeid said after Haley announced the US 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 US withdrawal could bolster countries such as Cuba, Russia, Egypt and Pakistan, which resist what they see as UN 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 US 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 US 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, 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.

UN 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 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.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Human Rights
Reuters

Reuters

...

Similar Picks:

Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine

by The Irrawaddy
August 24, 2023
10.2k

Over 200 civil society organizations demand that city-state block regime’s access to arms, dual-use goods, technology and funds.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta’s Yangon Economics Minister was Friends with Assassin Conspirator 
Burma

Myanmar Junta’s Yangon Economics Minister was Friends with Assassin Conspirator 

by The Irrawaddy
September 28, 2022
18.2k

Lieutenant Colonel Myo Myint Aung has been appointed to run Yangon’s economy, despite having a military background.

Read moreDetails
KIA Seizes Three Key Myanmar Junta Outposts
Ethnic Issues

KIA Seizes Three Key Myanmar Junta Outposts

by Hein Htoo Zan
August 8, 2023
5.9k

The Kachin Independence Army said it has overrun two regime strongholds and one held by its Shan Nationalities Army allies.

Read moreDetails
EU Imposes Sanctions on Six More Myanmar Junta Officials
Burma

EU Imposes Sanctions on Six More Myanmar Junta Officials

by The Irrawaddy
July 21, 2023
5.7k

Military’s mining enterprise also penalized for aiding regime’s escalation of violence and grave human rights violations since coup.

Read moreDetails
Ex-Spy Chief and Business Cronies Donate to Myanmar Junta Chief’s Buddha Statue
Burma

Ex-Spy Chief and Business Cronies Donate to Myanmar Junta Chief’s Buddha Statue

by The Irrawaddy
July 28, 2023
5.5k

The world’s largest seated Buddha statue is due to be unveiled on Tuesday as cronies gather to shower the project...

Read moreDetails
Thailand Sentences 7 to Jail for Protesting Myanmar Coup
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Thailand Sentences 7 to Jail for Protesting Myanmar Coup

by The Irrawaddy
August 24, 2023
4.4k

Neighboring country maintains strong relations with junta despite widespread atrocities and killing of over 4,000 opponents.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
A Rohingya girl acts as she recites a rhyme while attending classes in a learning center run by UNICEF at Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, January 20, 2018. / Reuters

Hiding from Traffickers in ‘Prison-Like’ Tents, Rohingya Girls Dream of School

Migrant workers sort fish and seafood unloaded from a fishing ship at a port in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand, January 22, 2018. / Reuters

Thailand Banks on Tech to End Slavery at Sea as Workers Push for Rights

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Breaking the 60-Year Political Cycle in Myanmar

Breaking the 60-Year Political Cycle in Myanmar

6 days ago
1.2k
How Myanmar Junta Uses Air Force to Fight Its Corner

How Myanmar Junta Uses Air Force to Fight Its Corner

4 days ago
1.1k

Most Read

  • Workers at Adidas Factory in Myanmar Strike for Living Wage

    Workers at Adidas Factory in Myanmar Strike for Living Wage

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ousted Myanmar Envoy to UK Charged With Trespass in London Residence Row

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Three Japanese Firms Ditch Myanmar Port Project

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Abandons Chinese Pipeline Amid Resistance Attacks

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Regime’s Moscow Show Masks Military Collapse in Myanmar; and More

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.