WASHINGTON (AP) – Biden’s government will announce this week that it will return to the much-maligned UN Human Rights Council, which former President Donald Trump withdrew almost three years ago, US officials said on Sunday. The decision turns another Trump era away from multilateral organizations and agreements.
U..S. According to officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a senior U.S. diplomat in Geneva will announce on Monday that Washington will return to the Geneva body as an observer, with a view to being elected as a full member. The decision is likely to draw criticism from conservative lawmakers and many people in the pro-Israel community.
Trump withdrew from the world body’s most important human rights agency in 2018 due to his excessive focus on Israel, which received by far the largest number of critical council decisions against any country, as well as the number of authoritarian countries among its members and because it could not comply to an extensive 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 has scrutinized the body’s membership, which currently includes China, Cuba, Eritrea, Russia and Venezuela, all of which are accused of human rights abuses.
One senior U.S. official said the government in Biden believed the council needed to reform, but that the best way to promote change was to “approach it in a principled manner.” The official said it could “be an important forum for those fighting tyranny and injustice around the world” and the US presence intends to “ensure that it can reach that potential.”
The official and three others familiar with the decision were not authorized to discuss the matter in public prior to the announcement, and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Although by the end of 2021 the US will only have an acting status as a non-voter in the council, officials have said the government intends to seek one of three full seats – currently held by Austria, Denmark and Italy – from the “Western Europe and other states group” which is eligible for election later this year.
The UN General Assembly makes the final choice in a vote that usually takes place in October each year to fill vacancies in three years at the 47-member state council.
U.S. involvement in the council and its predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights, has been a political footballer between Republican and Democratic governments for decades. Although Democratic presidents acknowledged the shortcomings, they tended to have a seat at the table, while Republicans shyed away from criticizing Israel.
However, Trump’s withdrawal from the UNHRC was one of a number of U.S. retrenchments from the international community during his four years in office. He also walked away from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Iran Agreement, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Cultural Organization, UNESCO and several arms control treaties. Trump also threatened to withdraw from the International Postal Union and regularly pointed out that he would resign from the World Trade Organization.
Since President Joe Biden took office last month, he has rejoined the Paris Agreement and the WTO and has been interested in returning to the Iran Agreement as well as UNESCO.
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Associated Press author Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.