Nikki Haley slams ‘brutality’ of UN Human Rights Council members

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Friday slammed the current state of the U.N. Human Rights Council, saying nations use their membership to “whitewash brutality” and calling for major changes.

“When the council focuses on human rights instead of politics, it advances important causes,” Haley wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.

“All too often, however, the victims of the world’s most egregious human rights violations are ignored by the very organization that is supposed to protect them,” she continued, pointing to Cuba and Venezuela as members of the council, despite their history of human rights abuses.

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The U.S. diplomat noted that a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee focused on international development and organizations discussed in May whether the U.S. should continue to play a role in the council.

“The question was whether the Human Rights Council actually supports human rights or is merely a showcase for dictatorships that use their membership to whitewash brutality,” Haley wrote.

“I believe the vision of the Human Rights Council is still achievable, but not without change. It is the responsibility of the United Nations to reclaim this vision and to restore the legitimacy of universal human rights,” she added.

Haley said she would outline proposed changes during a trip to Geneva next week to address the council about U.S. concerns, including “wrongly singling out Israel for criticism” and asserting that membership on the council “be determined through competitive voting to keep the worst human rights abusers from obtaining seats.” 

The Human Rights Council was formed in 2006. President Barack Obama believed U.S. participation in the council would help its mission.

Haley is not the first Trump administration official to rip the group. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said if the U.N. council did not reform itself, the U.S. could consider withdrawing.

“We’re not taking withdrawal off the table. Our aim is to fix the organization,” Tillerson wrote to nonprofit organizations in March.