Israel is why Trump left UN

OUT: HOSTILITY PROOF THE COUNCIL IS MOTIVATED BY POLITICAL BIAS

Ambassador says human rights body has ‘appalling disrespect’ for basic rights.

The US withdrew from a “hypocritical and self-serving” United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform – a move activists warned would make advancing human rights globally even more difficult.

Standing with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed Russia, China, Cuba and Egypt for thwarting US efforts to reform the council.

She also criticised countries which shared US values and encouraged Washington to remain, but “were unwilling to seriously challenge the status quo”.

Washington’s withdrawal is the latest US rejection of multilateral engagement after it pulled out of the Paris climate agreement and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

It also comes as the US faces intense criticism for detaining children separated from their immigrant parents at the US-Mexico border. United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called on Washington to halt its “unconscionable” policy.

“Look at the council membership, and you see an appalling disrespect for the most basic rights,” said Haley, citing Venezuela, China, Cuba and Democratic Republic of Congo. She did not mention Saudi Arabia, which rights groups pushed to be suspended in 2016 over killings of civilians in the Yemen war.

Among reforms the US had pushed for was to make it easier to kick out member states with egregious rights records. A two-thirds majority vote by the 193-member UN General Assembly is needed to suspend a member state.

Haley also said the “disproportionate focus and unending hostility towards Israel is clear proof that the council is motivat- ed by political bias, not by human rights”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the US decision.

Rights groups have criticised the Trump administration for not making human rights a priority in its foreign policy. – Reuters