On June 19, 2018, then-U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced that the U.S. would withdraw from and cease its engagement with the UN Human Rights Council. At the time, they insisted that the U.S. fully intended to continue to lead on human rights, including at the UN, despite having given up its membership and voting rights at the Council.
However, it has become clear that withdrawing from the Human Rights Council was only the first step in what has become a substantial U.S. retreat from the UN’s human rights activities. The consequences have been disastrous, both for the U.S. and for the UN.
As we mark the anniversary of this decision, the Better World Campaign joined four other organizations in urging a serious course correction in U.S. policy if the U.S. hopes to effectively advance human rights and fundamental freedoms in other countries, now or in the future.
