WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration will announce this week that it will rejoin the much-maligned UN Human Rights Council from which former President Donald Trump withdrew nearly three years ago, US officials said Sunday. The decision returns a new Trump-era movement away from multilateral organizations and agreements.
U.S. According to officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a senior US diplomat in Geneva will announce Monday that Washington will return to the Geneva-based body as an observer with a view to election as a full member. The decision is likely to receive criticism from conservative lawmakers and many in the pro-Israel community.
Trump withdrew from the world’s main human rights agency in 2018 due to his disproportionate focus on Israel, which has received by far the largest number of critical council resolutions against any country, as well as the number of authoritarian countries among its members and for failing to meet a comprehensive list of reforms demanded by then US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
In addition to the council’s continued focus on Israel, the Trump administration also objected to membership in the body, which currently includes China, Cuba, Eritrea, Russia and Venezuela, all of which have been accused of human rights violations.
A senior US official said the Biden administration believed the council has yet to reform, but the best way to promote change is to “deal with it in a principled way.” The official said it could “be an important forum for those fighting tyranny and injustice around the world” and the US presence wants to “ensure it can live up to that potential.”
That officer and three others familiar with the decision were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly prior to the announcement, and spoke on condition of anonymity.
While the U.S. will only have observer status on the board without voting rights until the end of 2021, officials said the government plans to seek one of three full-fledged member seats – currently held by Austria, Denmark and Italy – of the “Western Europe and Other States Group” to be elected later this year.
The UN General Assembly makes the final choice in a vote usually held in October each year to fill vacancies in three-year terms at the council of 47 member states.
The US involvement in the council and its predecessor, the UN Human Rights Commission, has been a kind of political football between Republican and Democratic governments for decades. While they recognized the shortcomings, the Democratic Presidents tended to want a seat at the table, while the Republicans recoiled from their criticism of Israel.
However, Trump’s withdrawal from the UNHRC was one of many U.S. cuts to the international community during his four years in office. He also walked away from the Paris climate agreement, the nuclear deal with Iran, the World Health Organization, the UN Education and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, and several arms control treaties. Trump also threatened to withdraw from the International Postal Union, often hinting at withdrawal from the World Trade Organization.
Since taking office last month, President Joe Biden has rejoined both the Paris Agreement and the WHO and has indicated his interest in returning to the Iran deal and to UNESCO.
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Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.