
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who holds cabinet rank in President Donald Trump’s administration, said on Friday that Washington would decide on whether to withdraw from the Council after its three-week session in Geneva ends this month.
His decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement last week drew criticism from governments around the world.
The Council’s critical stance of Israel has been a major sticking point for its ally the U.S.
Haley, writing in the Washington Post at the weekend, called for the Council to “end its practice of wrongly singling out Israel for criticism.”
The possibility of a U.S. withdrawal has raised alarm bells among Western allies and activists.
Eight groups, including Freedom House and the Jacob Blaustein Institute, wrote to Haley in May saying a withdrawal would be counterproductive since it could lead to the Council “unfairly targeting Israel to an even greater degree”.
The council has no powers other than to rebuke governments it deems as violating human rights and to order investigations but plays an important role in international diplomacy.
Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory are a fixed item on the agenda of the 47-member body set up in 2006.
Washington, Israel’s main ally, often casts the only vote against the Arab-led resolutions.
“ wrote Haley.
John Fisher, Geneva Director of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, did not appear to fear an immediate withdrawal.
“Our understanding is that it is going to be a message of engagement and reform,” Fisher said.
However, Fisher said Israel’s human rights record did warrant Council scrutiny, but the special focus was “a reasonable concern”.
“It is an anomaly that there is a dedicated agenda item in a way that there isn’t for North Korea or Syria or anything else”, he said.
Haley also challenged the membership of Communist Cuba and Venezuela citing rights violations, proposing “competitive voting to keep the worst human rights abusers from obtaining seats”.
She made no mention of Egypt or Saudi Arabia, two U.S. allies elected in spite quashing dissent.