Biden administration to rejoin Human Rights Council
After former President Donald Trump strayed away from international organizations, President Joe Biden instructed the State Department to reengage with the U.N. Humans Rights Council. WikiCommons
President Joe Biden moved to rejoin the U.N. Human Rights Council Feb. 8, another move to reverse policies enacted by former president Donald Trump’s administration. This decision marks a move away from Trump’s “America First” agenda to remove the U.S. from international entanglements, like the Paris Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal.
The United States had withdrawn from the council in June 2018, citing “chronic bias against Israel,” with a statement from Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., who called the organization “hypocritical and self-serving.” Current Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged the institution as “flawed” and in need of reform, but he stated that the best way to improve it was through “ robust and principled U.S. leadership.”
Nubar Hovsepian, a Chapman University political science professor and Israel-Palestine conflict scholar, echoed that sentiment, saying he finds the council flawed in some aspects. However, he believes that the United States never should have left the council in the first place due to its prominent position as a world leader.
“Leaving (the U.N. Human Rights Council) was an incredible mistake,” Hovsepian said. “The U.S., as a major power, ought to be part of (it).”
Crystal Murphy, another political science professor and director of the International Studies master’s program at Chapman, is ambivalent on the role of the United States in the international sphere, critiquing the nation’s own record with human rights and as a global leader.
“(The United States) both professes to be a champion of human rights and defies many rules of the system at once,” Murphy said. “America has its own empire story, and I’m a little more agnostic on whether it should be at the helm.”
The statement of the United States’ decision to leave the council in 2018 came one day after Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, criticized the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that separated migrant children from their parents.
“I would like to see the U.S. have some integrity,” Murphy said of the nation’s role in affirming human rights. “I want to see this generation hold the United States to account.”
Another question that arises from Biden’s decision to rejoin the council is its implications for the United States’ relationship with Israel. The decision to leave the council was met with gratitude from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is one of several decisions under the Trump administration to strengthen ties with Israel, including Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, ending funding for Palestinian refugees through the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and passing an executive order that cracked down on anti-Semitism on college campuses.
By contrast, Biden has not only rejoined the council, but is expected to reinstate funding to UNRWA to provide aid to Palestinian refugees.
Daniel Levine, the senior Jewish educator at the Hillel Foundation of Orange County, believes that the U.N., particularly its Human Rights Council, is biased against Israel. However, he adopts a similar stance to Blinken that it should be reformed, not abandoned. He welcomed the Biden administration’s stances on Israel and in rejoining the council.
“It’s a really good thing for the world that there is such a thing as a human rights council,” Levine told The Panther. “I’m happy that Biden is going to go back to it.”
Hovsepian does not believe that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is likely to change despite the transfer of administrative power. Ultimately, he believes the U.S. rejoining the Council spells out a future that will emphasize diplomacy and human rights.
“I don’t think Israel has any reason to worry,” Hovsepian said. “Both Biden and (Vice President Kamala) Harris have very strong commitments to Israel, and I don’t see them making any major moves on the question.”