Trump says the US will withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council
(Getty)
Trump’s administration intend to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley are scheduled to announce the withdrawal at 5 p.m EST, reported The Hill.
The US could withdraw from arguably the most important human rights body in the world.
President Donald Trump at the G7 Summit in Quebec (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty)
“For our part, the United States will not sit quietly while this body, supposedly dedicated to human rights, continues to damage the cause of human rights,” the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said in a statement.
“In the end, no speech and no structural reforms will save the members of the Human Rights Council from themselves.”
The move comes after Haley and the Trump administration said that the body was targeting Israel.
(Mark Wilson/Getty )
The US also wanted more stringent criteria for membership and the ability to kick countries that have egregious human rights records off the council, reported CNN.
These states include Venezuela, China and Saudi Arabia.
In Saudi Arabia, being gay is punishable by death.
US President Donald Trump (C) waves next to Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto / AFP PHOTO / Vietnam News Agency / STR
The ambassador has threatened to pull out of the UN council before.
Last year, she intended to step back from the 47-nation body under the Trump administration’s narrative of reneging on international agreements and forums under the president’s “America First” policy.
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.
(Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty)
It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
Several non-government organizations have sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo decrying the expected decision, reported CNN.
