GENEVA: China, Britain and the European Union lamented on Wednesday Washington’s decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council as Western countries began looking for a substitute for the coveted seat.
The United States withdrew on Tuesday from what it called the “hypocritical and self-serving” forum over what it called chronic bias against its close ally Israel and a lack of reform after a year of negotiations.
Washington’s retreat is the latest US rejection of multilateral engagement after it pulled out of the Paris climate agreement and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
“It is bad news, it is bad news for this Council, it is bad news I think for the United Nations. It is bad news, I think for the United States, it is bad news for everybody who cares about human rights,” Slovenian President Borut Pahor told the 47-member forum in Geneva where the US seat was empty.
The European Union, Australia and Britain echoed his comments.
“We have lost a member who has been at the forefront of liberty for generations. While we agree with the US on the need for reform, our support for this Human Rights Council remains steadfast, and we will continue to advance the cause of reform from within its ranks,” Britain’s Ambassador Julian Braithwaite said.
Bulgaria’s Ambassador Deyana Kostadinova, speaking on behalf of the EU, said that the United States had been a “strong partner” for many years at the talks. Its decision “risks undermining the role of the US as a strong advocate and supporter of democracy on the world stage,” she added.
China’s foreign ministry expressed regret, with state media saying the image of the United States as a defender of rights was “on the verge of collapse”.
Diplomats have said the US withdrawal could bolster Cuba, Russia, Egypt and Pakistan, which resist what they see as UN interference in sovereign issues.
Once the Trump administration formally notifies it of its decision, the UN General Assembly will organise elections for a replacement to assume the US term through 2019.
The Western group of countries in the council is expected to discuss the issue at their weekly meeting on Thursday, diplomats said.
When the council was created in 2006, US President George W Bush’s administration shunned the body.
New Zealand, which stepped aside to allow the United States to win election to the Council in 2009 under President Barack Obama, may be a good choice as a replacement, two diplomats said. “There would be a certain symmetry,” one said.
Canada and the Netherlands were other possibilities, although no country has stepped forward yet, they said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the US decision.
Senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Hanan Ashrawi, said Washington’s justification for withdrawal was “both deceptive and blatantly untrue”.
In a statement, she accused the United States of “subverting international law... for the sake of maintaining the impunity of Israel, the only remaining military occupation in the world”. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
