The United States will today, Tuesday, become the first country to fully boycott the periodic review of its human rights record before the UN Human Rights Council, since the Council's establishment nearly two decades ago. The Associated Press confirmed that the administration of President Donald Trump withdrew from the Council last year, accusing it of bias against the United States and failure to adhere to the values it promotes.
The Council, headquartered in Geneva, reviews the human rights records of all 193 UN member states approximately every four to five years, under a process known as the "Universal Periodic Review." National delegations present reports on their countries' records, answer questions from other states, and receive recommendations, while the Council emphasizes that the absence of national representatives prevents the process from proceeding.
For his part, a spokesperson for the US State Department said his country grants no credibility to the Council, accusing it of turning human rights into a mockery, consistently failing to uphold its values, and promoting anti-American rhetoric. The spokesperson also pointed to the failure to condemn the worst human rights violators, noting that the boycott coincides with criticism of Washington's policies, including forced deportations and targeted killings of individuals suspected of involvement in drug smuggling.
Critics have warned that the US boycott may encourage other countries, particularly those objecting to the intensive scrutiny exercised by human rights monitoring bodies, to take a similar step. The US was scheduled to miss its human rights record review in November 2025, prompting the Council to postpone it by a year in hopes that the US government would change its stance, but it did not.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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