FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 19, 2018

[New York] – Today’s decision to withdraw from the UN  Human  Rights  Council  is shortsighted and will further marginalize the United States in the international arena.

The Council is an important venue to address the human rights records of all countries, including the United States. Just yesterday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called the Trump Administration’s family separation policy “unconscionable” and demanded its immediate cessation. The UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights is scheduled to present a report to the Council this Thursday that criticizes US policies as “cruel and inhuman,” and driven by a “contempt for the poor.”

As the Trump Administration continues its abhorrent racist, xenophobic and misogynist policies, withdrawal from the Human Rights Council will not shield the United States from being held accountable under the human rights framework.