“Allies unhappy with US walkout from UN body”, The Boston Globe
By Jamey Keaten, Associated Press, June 21, 2018
GENEVA — The UN’s Human Rights Council resumed work Wednesday after a US pullout that one Western diplomat called a ‘‘Big Bang’’ for the Geneva body, as Russia blasted the move by the Trump administration and key allies expressed disappointment.
Critics and friends alike read the latest Trump move to snub yet another international institution as a sign that the United States was jettisoning its reputation as a key defender of human rights and self-inflicting a blow to its international image.
They expressed support for the council, flaws and all, and vowed its work will go on.
‘‘We have lost a member who has been at the forefront of liberty for generations,’’ Julian Braithwaite, Britain’s ambassador in Geneva, told the council. ‘‘While we agree with the US on the need for reform, our support for this Human Rights Council remains steadfast.’’
Russia blasted the US decision, calling it ‘‘boorish’’ and saying Washington had ‘‘inflicted a powerful blow to its human rights reputation.’’ Russia’s UN mission said in a statement that the US exit from the Council reflected Washington’s unilateralist approach to global affairs.
The US withdrawal is unprecedented in the 12-year history of the 47-member council — no country has ever dropped out voluntarily. Libya was kicked out seven years ago.
The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, announced the pullout Tuesday, calling the body ‘‘a hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights.’’
Haley said the United States had given the human rights body ‘‘opportunity after opportunity’’ to make changes. She criticized the council for ‘‘its chronic bias against Israel,’’ pointing out that it includes accused human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, Venezuela, and Congo.
Defending the move, US national security adviser John Bolton said Wednesday ‘‘we don’t need advice by the UN or other international bodies on how to govern ourselves.’’
Bolton told Fox News the decision was made by President Trump weeks ago.
On Wednesday, the US chairs sat empty as discussion turned to summary executions, freedom of expression, the rights of migrants, and violence against women. The US pullout leaves the council without one of its traditional defenders of human rights.
Just two days ago, American representatives were still taking part by condemning issues like constraints on civil society in Egypt and curbs on a free press in Bahrain.
One Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the United States was notably absent from an informal back room meeting in Belarus that it might normally have attended. He said the US walkout could be a ‘‘big bang’’ to help prod reform at the council.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called the US decision ‘‘courageous,’’ saying it was ‘‘an unequivocal statement that enough is enough.’’
But envoys from Australia, the European Union, and China — a frequent target of US criticism over Beijing’s rights record — used a break in the council’s regular work to express disappointment and regret.
President Borut Pahor of Slovenia — the home country of Melania Trump — said the American withdrawal was ‘‘bad news’’ for ‘‘everybody’’ who cares about human rights.
In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized what she described as Washington’s ‘‘boorish cynicism in stubbornly refusing to recognize its own human rights problems while trying to tailor the council to its political interests.’’