The United States of America has announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Nikki Haley, the United States UN Ambassador, and Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, announced the decision in a joint press statement on Tuesday. In her statement, Haley said that the US withdrawal from the Human Rights Council is “not a retreat from human rights commitments”. Further calling the council “hypocritical” and “self-serving” due its “chronic bias against Israel”. “The council ceases to be worthy of its name” Haley said, “such council in fact damages the cause for human rights”. This is not the first time the United States showed reluctance in being part of the Human Rights Council. In 2006, George Bush withheld the U.S.’s membership from the council when it was first established. However, in 2009 the Obama administration decided to join, as it was believed that reforming the council from within would be “more effective”, as announced by Susan Rice, Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to the UN. In a statement to NPR, Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch’s executive director said that the Human Rights Council has “played an important role in…
