WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will transfer on Monday to rejoin the United Nations Human Rights Council, practically three years after President Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States from it, a senior State Department official mentioned on Sunday.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is scheduled to announce that the United States will “re-engage” with the council as an observer, the official mentioned. “We intend to do so knowing that the most effective way to reform and improve the council is to engage with it in a principled fashion.”
Mr. Trump withdrew from the council, the world’s most necessary human rights physique, in 2018 over what he and his allies referred to as unfair focusing on of Israel. The departure made the United States the primary nation to depart voluntarily.
President Biden pledged throughout the presidential marketing campaign to rejoin the council and assist overhaul. But doing so is probably going to trigger a political backlash: Mr. Trump’s allies have warned that rejoining would successfully enable the physique to proceed ignoring human rights abuses dedicated by council members similar to Saudi Arabia, China and Russia.
Nikki R. Haley, who was the American ambassador to the United Nations when Mr. Trump withdrew from the council, has referred to as it “a cesspool of political bias” and has warned in opposition to rejoining.
“If Biden rejoins the council whose membership includes dictatorial regimes & some of the world’s worst human rights violators,” Ms. Haley wrote on Twitter final month, “it will fly in the face of our fight for human rights.”
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The United States will return to the council as a nonvoting observer, and full membership can be assessed later this yr. The transfer, reported earlier by The Associated Press, comes at a time when nations going through widespread criticism for human rights abuses have tried to affect how the council assesses wrongdoing. China, Cuba, Eritrea, Russia and Venezuela are all members.
At the identical time, critics of the council have lengthy accused it of dysfunction and of turning a blind eye to abuse by some members whereas punishing others. Last week, 40 House Republicans signed a letter urging Mr. Biden to rethink rejoining, saying the council was “disproportionately targeting” Israel over different members.
“Israel is the only country to be a permanent item on the council’s agenda,” the letter learn. “This past year, the 43rd Human Rights Council Session adopted five resolutions condemning Israel, and only one each targeting Iran, Syria and North Korea.”
There are indicators that the council is taking steps to change by itself. In January, Fiji, a nation with a report of supporting human rights causes, received election as president, a place that permits vital affect over setting the group’s priorities.
In latest years, Fiji has backed investigations into reported abuses in Venezuela, Belarus, Syria and Yemen, whereas encountering opposition from different members, together with China.
The Biden administration is framing its choice as a means to speed up these adjustments, and to rejoin a world group that Mr. Trump largely shunned throughout his time in workplace. In his first few weeks, Mr. Biden has rejoined the Paris local weather accord and the World Health Organization, two frequent targets of the previous president.
“We know that the council has the potential to be an important forum for those fighting tyranny and injustice around the world,” the State Department official mentioned in a press release. “By being present at the table, we seek to reform it and ensure it can live up to that potential.”
