The US has condemned Monday’s election of the Democratic Republic of Congo into the Human Rights Council, calling it an example why the council “lacks credibility and must be reformed in order to be saved.”
America’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, lamented the DRC, “a country infamous for political suppression, violence against women and children, arbitrary arrest and detention, and unlawful killings and disappearances, has been elected to serve on what is supposed to be the world’s preeminent human rights body.
“In fact, the DRC – a country under investigation at the Human Rights Council – ran unopposed. That calls into serious question the General Assembly’s methods of selecting membership in the Human Rights Council.
“The HRC cannot endure many more blows to its credibility before it is rendered absolutely meaningless.”
The US is leading efforts to reform the HRC. During the UN General Assebmly, it convened a meeting of 40 countries calling for a more effective council.
“Countries that aggressively violate human rights at home should not be in a position to guard the human rights of others. Human rights are too important to let a backward and broken system go unchecked and unreformed,” said Haley.
“People around the world are losing their inalienable rights and freedoms at the hands of oppressive regimes. We need a unified voice of moral clarity with backbone and integrity to call out abusive governments. This election has once again proven that the Human Rights Council, as presently constituted, is not that voice.”
