US opts out of running for re-election on UN Human Rights Council

The Biden administration has decided not to seek a second consecutive term on the much-maligned UN Human Rights Council, the State Department said Monday.

The administration made US membership in the Geneva-based council a priority when it took office in 2021 after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the body, citing anti-Israel bias. Since returning to the council, the administration has frequently criticised its votes on the Middle East and other issues.

"We decided not to seek another (term) on the Human Rights Council at this time because we are engaged with our allies about the best way to move forward," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Elections for the 47-member council are held by the UN General Assembly, with candidate countries coming from various geographic groups.

Miller said the three other candidates, Iceland, Spain, and Switzerland, from the US geographic group known as Western Hemisphere and Others, or WEOG, would be able to represent American interests and values.

"All of them are countries with a very strong record of support for human rights," he said. "We thought they would carry the flag forward, but we will continue to remain engaged on human rights issues."

The council was created in 2006 to replace a human rights commission discredited because of some members' poor rights records. But the new council soon faced similar criticism, including that rights abusers sought seats to protect themselves and their allies. The US has criticised the selection of candidates with poor rights records on uncontested slates.

The US has been the most vocal defender of Israel and has repeatedly joined it in denouncing alleged anti-Israel bias in the UN rights body. Spain, meanwhile, was one of three European countries to announce they would recognise a Palestinian state — a move Israel criticised.

What the US saw as the council's excessive criticism of Israel culminated in the Trump administration's withdrawal from it in June 2018.

In announcing the Biden administration would reverse Trump's decision, Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticised the withdrawal, saying it "did nothing to encourage meaningful change, but instead created a vacuum of US leadership, which countries with authoritarian agendas have used to their advantage".