China was yesterday one of several nations and groups that expressed regret over a US decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council.
Save the Children and Freedom House shared their disappointment, while conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation shared support for the move.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley on Tuesday announced the decision to pull out of the council over what she said was chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform.
Photo: Reuters
“China expresses regret at the US decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) saud at a regular media briefing.
“China will continue to make its contribution to the healthy development of human rights around the world via constructive dialogue and cooperation,” he added.
Asked about US criticism of China’s rights record, Geng said the US was ignoring the facts and that anyone who was without prejudice could see the enormous progress China had made on rights.
The official publication of China’s top anti-graft watchdog said in a commentary yesterday that the US decision to leave the council “has put the American peoples’ boastful image of being a defender of human rights on the verge of collapse.”
The separation of immigrant families on the US-Mexico border showed the hypocrisy of the US and that it “cannot and should not” criticize other countries’ rights record, it said.
Rights group have criticized the decision as sending a message that the US was turning a blind eye to abuses across the world.
A group of 12 organizations, including Save the Children, Freedom House and the UN Association of the USA, said that there were “legitimate concerns” about the council’s shortcomings, but that none of them warranted a US exit.
“This decision is counterproductive to American national security and foreign policy interests, and will make it more difficult to advance human rights priorities and aid victims of abuse around the world,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
“All Trump seems to care about is defending Israel,” Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said on Twitter that “the US should be stepping up, not stepping back.”
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank close to the Trump administration, defended the move, calling the council “notably incurious about the human rights situations in some of the world’s most oppressive countries.”
Trump could have withdrawn immediately after taking office, but instead gave the council 18 months to make changes, foundation senior fellow Brett Schaefer said.
Haley has been the driving force behind withdrawing from the human rights body, unprecedented in the 12-year history of the council. No country has ever dropped out voluntarily. Libya was kicked out seven years ago.
The move could reinforce the perception that the Trump administration is seeking to advance Israel’s agenda on the world stage, just as it prepares to unveil its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan despite Palestinian outrage over the embassy relocation.
Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is visiting the Middle East this week as the White House works to lay the groundwork for unveiling the plan.
Israel is the only country in the world whose rights record comes up for discussion at every council session, under “Item 7” on the agenda. Item 7 on “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories” has been part of the council’s regular business almost as long as it has existed.
The US pullout was bound to have ripple effects for at least two countries at the council: China and Israel. The US, as at other UN organizations, is Israel’s biggest defender.
At the rights council, the US has recently been the most unabashed critic of rights abuses in China — whose growing economic and diplomatic clout has chastened some other would-be critics, rights advocates say.
There are 47 countries in the council, elected by the UN’s General Assembly with a specific number of seats allocated for each region of the globe. Members serve for three-year terms and can serve only two terms in a row.
The US has opted to stay out of the council before: The administration of former US president George W. Bush opted against seeking membership when the council was created in 2006. The US joined the body only in 2009 under former US president Barack Obama.
Additional reporting by AP
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