Biden and the UN Human Rights Council
By Anabella
In another act of repudiation to Trump’s America First legacy, the Biden Administration has announced its plan to rejoin the United Nations’ notoriously flawed Human Rights Council (HRC). President Trump withdrew the United States from the organization in 2018, citing its blatant anti-Israel agenda and record for ignoring flagrant human rights violations. Several of the dominant member nations sitting on the HRC are the world’s worst offenders when it comes to human rights violations. Yet, the council has repeatedly applied unfair double standards in judging its participants and has refused to hold the real abusers accountable. The HRC’s unwillingness to address its members and evaluate each nation objectively showcases its hypocrisy and ultimate ineffectiveness.
A current member of the HRC, China has earned a reputation for routinely violating the human rights of its own citizens. A recent, egregious example is the Chinese Communist Party’s “re-education” efforts in Xinjiang. As part of a dubious strategy to de-radicalize the region, the CCP has sent countless Uyghur Muslims and other minorities to reeducation camps to suffer unimaginable torture, including rape, sterilization, electrocution, beatings, and forced indoctrination. Unsurprisingly, the UN has remained silent on the matter, despite receiving demands to act from the U.K. and U.S. Other problematic HRC members include Somalia and Pakistan. As recently as 2017, these two nations have deemed homosexuality punishable by death. Despite the routine inhumane practices and human rights crimes that occur within their borders, Cuba and Venezuela also hold seats on the HRC. From imprisoning and torturing political dissenters to refusing their populations access to food and medicine, these nations deny basic rights to their people, and therefore should have no bearing on the actions of the rest of the world. How can it be that multiple members of the HRC consistently violate human rights, yet they’re treated as authorities on the subject by the international community?
Aside from excusing and covering up the atrocious records of major members, the council targets and actively works to discredit, disarm, and dismantle our greatest ally: the state of Israel. The HRC released a list which blacklisted 112 companies that do work within Israel and Israeli settlements. This move not only economically harmed the region but Israelis and Palestinians alike. Israel was the only nation to receive such treatment while several other territories guilty of far worse infractions, such as Northern Cypress and Tibet, got a free pass. In the first decade of the HRC’s existence, 68 out of 135 resolutions were directed at Israel, despite the fact that Israel is a true democracy that protects freedom of religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, and more. Instead of turning its attention towards legitimate and dire humanitarian crises around the globe, the HRC chooses to invent reasons to bully Israel. However, the council’s obsession with Israel and purposeful disregard of violations in other regions of the world has ultimately exposed its true intentions. The organization is a cartel that exists to cover up and cater to its dominant abusing members, not protect and promote human rights.
When the U.S. exited the HRC under Trump’s leadership, we witnessed a moment of American strength and pride. It showed the world that the United States would not sit idly by and allow compromised nations on the council to point fingers while neglecting their own citizens. It showcased our integrity and our prioritization of fair treatment and meaningful action. The Biden Administration reentering the United States into the HRC sends the opposite message— that our nation is morally corrupt and tone deaf to real human rights crimes around the world. By holding a seat on the HRC, we agree to damage our long held relationship with the free state of Israel and turn a blind eye to injustice outside our borders.
