In response to an announcement by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that it received a communication from the U.S. government of its intention to not participate in its national review at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, scheduled to take place in November, Amnesty International USA’s National Director of Government Relations, Amanda Klasing, said the following:
“In an unprecedented move, the United States might be on track to become the first country in the history of this process to fully walk away from this important human rights related review. This is the latest demonstration that the Trump administration has a troubling disregard for international accountability and human rights at home and around the world.
“President Trump’s time in office has been marked by a deliberate retreat from key multilateral institutions, including the withdrawal of the U.S. from the UN Human Rights Council itself. He has repeatedly attempted to undermine global mechanisms designed to protect and advance human dignity and accountability. Unless the administration quickly reverses this decision, this latest action will put the U.S. in the global lead of a race to the bottom.
“The UPR is a unique process in which each UN Member State reports what it is doing to protect and advance human rights. Since its establishment in 2006, there have been some procedural delays or challenges, but no country has fully disengaged from a full review cycle. The U.S. might shamefully be on a path to set a new precedent.
“From chilling dissent and criminalizing protests against the government of Israel’s actions in Gaza, to unjust detentions, deportations without due process, near dismantling of its human rights office at the State Department, and significant politically motivated edits to its annual human rights reports, this administration has overseen a concerning erosion of human rights protections. The intent to disengage from the UPR fits a broader pattern of avoidance, secrecy, and abdication of responsibility.
“The UPR is one of the few processes where every government, including our own, has an opportunity to both report on its progress and hold others to account. The U.S. has historically been an active participant in this process since its inception. It would be foolish to abandon a process the U.S. helped build and support.
“There is still time. For example, when Israel failed to engage in an earlier review cycle, the Human Rights Council and member states took concrete action, and the government of Israel reversed course and submitted a national report and participated in its review. The Trump administration can, and must, reverse course, submit its national report for the review, even belatedly, and show up for the review in November. Likewise, the Human Rights Council and its member states should work expeditiously towards maintaining full participation in the UPR process by all states, including the U.S. The U.S. Congress must urgently step in and exercise oversight to ensure the U.S. government does not walk away from its obligations. The failure to engage weakens global accountability, emboldens rights violators, and leaves people in the U.S. and abroad more vulnerable to human rights violations.
“The world is watching. The U.S. must live up to its human rights commitments; not abandon them.”
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