Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley warned on Monday that a possible move by President Biden to rejoin the controversial UN Human Rights Council “faces” the fight for human rights.
“The UN Human Rights Council is a pit of political prejudice that makes a mockery of human rights,” Haley tweeted.
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“If Biden rejoins the council, whose membership includes dictatorial regimes and some of the world’s worst human rights violators, it will fly in the face of our human rights struggle,” she said.
Haley was part of the Trump administration in 2018 when he removed the US from the Human Rights Council. When announcing the decision, she used similar language at the time, calling it “a protector of human rights violators and a pit of political prejudice”.
Critics, of whom Haley was perhaps best known, pointed to the council’s membership, which currently includes countries such as Cuba, China and Russia – all of which were elected in 2020.
In 2019, the UN General Assembly elected Libya, Sudan and Venezuela to the Council.
Critics also accused the council of having a widespread anti-Israel bias, pointing out that Israel is regularly discussed and condemned by the council, while human rights violations by other countries – including those in the council – are ignored.
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Biden has vowed to rejoin the council, but has so far not set out any criteria for reforms he would demand before the US re-applies. Biden also moved to rejoin the World Health Organization (WHO), from which then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the US last year.
“We will rejoin the UN Human Rights Council and work to ensure that the body truly adheres to its values,” Biden said in a media post.
He also criticized the Trump administration for electing Cuba to the council – although Cuba was also a member of the council during the Obama administration.
Meanwhile, former UN Ambassador Kelly Craft recently called for a number of reforms that the Biden government must demand before re-entering the Council.
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“In its current composition and direction, the council is failing to live up to its name,” Craft said.
“This is an insult to the millions of people around the world who are being subjected to oppression and persecution because they want to exercise their God-given rights,” she said in a December speech. “This is an insult to human rights defenders who demand United Nations support.”