US again fails to show at UN for its human rights review

The UN’s top human rights body on Tuesday postponed a regular review of the US human rights record until January in hopes of persuading the Trump administration to reverse its decision to become the first government to snub the process.

The move by the Human Rights Council buys it more time to try to coax Washington to take part in the review. The council’s 47 member countries adopted without a vote the decision to delay the US review – amid “continued non-cooperation” with its process.

The Geneva-based council regularly examines the rights records of all 193 UN member states – generally about every four to five years – as part of a process known as the universal periodic review.

The administration of US President Donald Trump last year pulled the US out of the council, accusing it of an anti-US and anti-Israel bias and alleging that it did not uphold the very values it promoted.

The US government has drawn criticism for its policies including strong-arm deportations and targeted killings of alleged drug-runners in the Caribbean and Pacific – which the administration has said are designed to protect US workers and help keep the country safe.

The European Union, a key US ally, and other supporters of the review process say it is needed to keep tabs on human rights in all UN member states.

“The EU regrets any situation in which full engagement with the mechanism does not occur, including the decision by the United States again not to participate in their review today,” Simone van der Post, a Dutch envoy speaking on behalf of EU council members, said after Tuesday’s decision.

“All states are subject to the scrutiny of their human rights situation by the international community,” she added.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The US, under Trump, already skipped its appointment for its review a year ago. The scheduled November 2025 review was pushed back until Tuesday in hopes that the US government might change its mind. It did not.

“[W]e give no credibility to the agency,” the State Department said in an emailed statement before Tuesday’s decision.

“This irredeemable body makes a mockery of human rights through consistent failures to uphold its own ‘values’ as it pushes anti-American rhetoric,” the statement said, alleging the council’s “persistent failure to condemn the most egregious human rights violators”.

The council requires participation of the country in question for any national review to take place.

As part of such reviews, national delegations – which at times can include a dozen officials or more – make a presentation, face questions and hear recommendations from other national envoys.

It is supposed to be a sweeping and constructive process, akin to holding up a mirror to governments to improve their human rights policies.

Critics of the US snub warn that the walkout could encourage other countries – many of which bristle about intense scrutiny from human rights monitors – to follow suit.

Phil Lynch, executive director of advocacy group International Service for Human Rights, said the US deserves scrutiny for its recent record on “migration, LGBT rights, racial discrimination and civic freedoms, like the right to protest”, as well as wars in the Middle East and “extrajudicial executions” in the Pacific and Caribbean.

“What has Washington got to hide?” he said.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s human rights programme, said: “The administration is saying to the world, ‘we don’t care about whether you would review us or not, we’re going to continue to violate human rights unabashed’.”

He said the ACLU and allies had called on the UN human rights chief to respond by presenting an update on rights in the United States early next year.

Eric Tistounet, a visiting professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute who was the council’s first secretary, said the US walkout could affect the credibility of the council’s review system.

“If the predominant global power – which has always claimed to adhere to the human rights norms – doesn’t show up and doesn’t even justify why, then you are in big trouble,” he said.