US Returns to UN Human Rights Council | News from Germany about events in the world

The UN General Assembly on Thursday, October 14, voted to return the United States to the UN Human Rights Council. This required a simple majority of votes. The United States was among 18 countries elected to this body. It includes, in particular, countries such as Lithuania, Luxembourg, India, Argentina, as well as Kazakhstan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Eritrea.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the United States intends to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council for a period from 2022 to 2024. “We humbly ask all UN member states to support our desire to return” to the Council, Blinken said on 24 February.

At the same time, he noted that the new US administration partly shares the criticism of the Council, which was expressed by the previous government under the leadership of President Donald Trump. In particular, according to Blinken, we are talking about the prejudice of the Council towards Israel. At the same time, the US intends to make sure that the member states of the Council meet “high standards” in the field of human rights.

US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council

The UN Human Rights Council in 2006 replaced the UN Commission on Human Rights, which had existed since 1946. Members of the Council are 47 countries, which are elected by the UN General Assembly for three years, they are not entitled to immediate re-election after two consecutive terms of office. The group of Eastern European states has six seats in this body. Asia and Africa have 13 seats each, Latin America has eight, and the group uniting Western European states, the United States, Canada and Israel has seven seats. Currently, the Council includes Russia, China and Germany, among others.

Each member of the Council is elected by a majority vote of the members of the General Assembly by direct secret ballot. According to the proclaimed principles of the United Nations, the members of the Council must observe high standards of protection of human rights. If they are caught in a massive and systematic violation of human rights, then their membership in the Council can be suspended by a two-thirds majority of the UN General Assembly members.

The United States announced its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council in 2018. Trump criticized this intergovernmental body for its attitude towards Israel and the lack of reforms.

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