In response to news reports that the Trump Administration will withdraw the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council, Amanda Klasing, National Director, Government Relations & Advocacy with Amnesty International USA, made the following statement:
“Announcing that the United States is withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) when it is not even a sitting member, is just the latest move by President Trump to demonstrate to the world his complete and blatant disregard for human rights and international cooperation — even if it weakens U.S. interests.
“Our world needs multilateral cooperation around shared interests, especially the protection of human rights. International institutions will continue to function, either with the U.S. or without it, but it seems that President Trump is uninterested in having a seat at that table to shape the norms and policies of the future, or even to protect the human rights of people in the United States.
“The HRC provides a global forum for governments to discuss human rights concerns, can authorize investigations that bring to light human rights violations, and, while not perfect, is a tool to hold governments accountable in fulfilling their human rights obligations, including to their own population.
“President Trump’s performative decision to pull the U.S. out of the HRC signals to the rest of the world that the U.S. is happy to completely cede important decisions about human rights violations happening across the globe to other countries. This isn’t about President Trump thumbing his nose at the institution, instead he’s just demonstrating he’d rather make a callous show of rejecting human rights than do the work needed to protect and promote human rights for people everywhere, including in the U.S.”