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U.S. skips U.N. human rights peer review for a second year
NPR reported from Geneva that the United States left an empty chair at its Universal Periodic Review for a second year, with the State Department citing the Human Rights Council and rights groups criticizing the no-show.
- New headline Was: “U.S. boycotts U.N. human rights review for second year running”
- Our desk filed its story
Based on reporting by NPR
The United States did not send a delegation to a scheduled United Nations peer review of its human rights record in Geneva, leaving an empty chair for the second consecutive year, NPR reported1.
The process, the Universal Periodic Review, is designed so that each of the 193 U.N. member states is examined every four to five years by other members, NPR said1. NPR reported that the United States was the only member state ever to skip the session in this way1.
Civil society groups may submit evidence, and several traveled to Geneva, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, according to NPR1. NPR said ACLU human rights director Jamil Dakwar told journalists the current U.S. administration was violating rights, citing treatment of immigrants, student protesters and LGBTQ people, and argued the U.N. should hold the United States accountable1.
In a written response described by NPR, the State Department said Washington had already formally withdrawn from the U.N. Human Rights Council and accused that body of pushing anti-American rhetoric1. NPR said leaving the 47-member council does not remove the United States from the review, which it described as obligatory for all member states1.
Rights groups, as summarized by NPR, tied the stance to a wider pattern of U.S. disengagement from multilateral bodies, pointing to sanctions on the International Criminal Court and a decision to leave the World Health Organization1.
