United States skips UN review of its human rights record

The United States did not send a representative to attend a United Nations review of its human rights record, becoming the second country in history to snub the mandatory procedure.

The meeting, part of the Universal Periodic Review, which takes place every four to five years, was held on Friday without the United States in attendance.

“We were supposed to meet today in order to proceed with the review of the United States,” said Jurg Lauber, president of the UN Human Rights Council. “Nevertheless, I note that the delegation of the United States is not present in this room.”

The US said in August it would not attend the meeting, joining ally Israel as the only other country to skip the process in which all 193 UN member states undergo scrutiny of their human rights records. Topics such as LGBTQ, immigrant rights, and the death penalty had been on the agenda for discussion at the meeting.

China’s representative at the meeting said that Washington was showing a “lack of respect for the UPR mechanism”, while Cuba accused the US of being afraid of what greater oversight of its human rights record might bring.

“As a founding member of the United Nations and primary champion of individual liberties, we will not be lectured about our human rights record by the likes of HRC (Human Rights Council) members such as Venezuela, China or Sudan,” the US Department of State said in a statement.

While the United States has a long record of chafing at oversight by international institutions over its human rights practices, the nationalist administration of President Donald Trump has been notably hostile to international frameworks that could place restraints on the use of US power at home and abroad.

The US has also sought to pressure international institutions critical of allies such as Israel, sanctioning UN officials and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their scrutiny of severe abuses by Israeli forces in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory.