Biden & Blinken’s UN Human Rights Council Plan

The United Nations Human Rights council sitting in session at their headquarters in Geneva. Source.

Last Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States would be seeking a seat on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, a council that President Trump pulled out of in 2018. In Blinken’s video announcement, the diplomat stated that the U.S will be looking to be on the Council for the 2022 to 2024 period, even though the council admittedly needs reform. Blinken outlined the council’s disproportionate focus on Israel as a key policy that needs reform, which, interestingly enough, was a key reason for the Trump Administration’s exit and shunning of the Human Rights Council.

The announcement signals a significant return to the international community by the Biden Administration and the United States. It shows a willingness to solve issues by diplomatic channels, rather than issuing demands and leaving if they are not met. However, it will be crucial to see, if and when the United States is actually appointed to the council as opposed to its current “observer” status.

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have explicity addressed their disapproval of the Council’s  repeated scrutiny of the Israel’s action in Palestinian territories, as well as the seemingly hypocritical inclusion of nations with atrocious human rights records such as Cuba and Russia on the council. Blinken stated concerns with human rights issues in various countries as opposed to honing in on Israel and Palestine, such as Myanmar, China, and Russia. Similar to rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, the commitment, albeit verbally, outlines the Biden Administration’s dual focus on advancing policy that America deems important while also rekindling international relations with supranational organizations such as the UN. Foreign countries, with whom President Trump was attempting to place pressure on by exiting, may start to feel the pressure of the United States joining the council very soon. Blinken addressed abuses in Cuba, Venezuela and Iran as well as the detention of Putin critic Alexei Navalny. Before Blinken’s announcement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov targeted human rights in Western countries and claimed that COVID-19 had only made racism, xenophobia, and discrimination worse, shown by the mass demonstrations that took place over the last year in Europe and the US.

This first step to rejoin the Human Rights Council is a move towards rejoining the international community at an Obama-era level. President Biden was elected as a centrist democrat in regards to his foreign policy and appointed someone similar to lead the Department of State in Antony Blinken. This move reflects that ideology by signalling that the US will not continue to apply external force and try to influence the Council, but rather will hope that the UN changes their ways and starts to focus on the human rights violations that America determines important by way of good faith cooperation. This is a move that does rely on a hint of optimism, especially regarding the other countries on the Council. Hopefully the new Department of State can keep their promises that “The United States is placing democracy and human rights at the center of our foreign policy because they’re essential for peace and stability.”