United States to skip its Universal Periodic Review in Geneva

The United States notified the United Nations on Thursday that it will not take part in the Universal Periodic Review of its human rights record scheduled for November 7 in Geneva, a formal withdrawal linked to President Donald Trump’s February executive order disengaging Washington from the U.N. Human Rights Council. The UPR is a peer review mechanism that examines the human rights records of all 193 U.N. member states every four to five years.

In a letter from the U.S. mission in Geneva to U.N. rights chief Volker Türk, Washington said participation in the UPR would amount to endorsement of the Human Rights Council’s mandate and activities and that the council has been politicized and biased, particularly against Israel. A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that engagement in UPRs ignores the council’s “persistent failure to condemn the most egregious human rights violators” and singled out China, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela as states whose abuses the U.N. has failed to address.

The move marks the first time the United States has declined to take part in its scheduled UPR, after participating in cycles in 2010, 2015 and 2020, UPR...