The U.S. Permanent Delegation to the United Nations Office in Geneva informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that the United States will not participate in the fourth round of the U.S. human rights review of the United Nations Human Rights Council, scheduled for November 6.
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office, confirmed the news on the same day. She said that the OHCHR regrets the decision of the United States not to participate in this important review process involving all UN member states. The Office will continue to communicate with the US government, as well as civil society, academia, and business on human rights issues.
National human rights reviews, also known as universal periodic reviews, are an important platform for countries to engage in equal and candid exchanges, constructive dialogue and cooperation on human rights issues within the framework of the United Nations. The UN Human Rights Council established this mechanism in June 2007 to regularly review the implementation of human rights obligations and commitments by all countries. Since the first round of reviews was launched in 2008, 193 UN member states have undergone three rounds of reviews, and the fourth round of reviews will start in 2022.
During the third round, representatives of 116 countries, together with relevant UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, submitted 347 critical recommendations for improvements to the human rights situation in the United States in various forms. The relevant countries generally urged the United States to eliminate all forms of discrimination based on race, religion and gender, fight hate speech and religious intolerance; reform the judiciary to eliminate police violence; change the policy of isolating migrant children from their parents and guaranteeing immigration rights; fight human trafficking; as soon as possible ratify international human rights conventions such as the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabil