The U.S. Re-Joining the UNHRC Speaks Volumes on Human Rights Violations Impunity by Ms Ramona Wadi!
(2021-10-21 at 00:08:42 )

The U.S. Re-Joining the UNHRC Speaks Volumes on Human Rights Violations Impunity by Ms Ramona Wadi!

If, according to the United States, Cuba does not deserve a seat at the UNHRC, what has the United States done to deserve it???

Much has been said about the Biden Administrations re-joining international institutions, after former United States President Donald Trump broke away from the standardised participation in international agreements and consensus. Notably, the international community singled out the United States under Donald Trump for the so-called "deal of the century", which veered away from the two-state paradigm that has steered international diplomacy on Palestine and Israel for decades.

Donald Trumps decision to quit the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2008 was described by former United States envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley as determined by the bodys "unending hostility towards Israel." Echoing Ms Haley, the former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the council "a protector of human rights abusers." Perhaps Pompeo had conveniently forgotten the U.S.’s own track record of backing military coups which disappeared tens of thousands of political opponents. The same goes for the correlation between United States financial aid and human rights abuses - the countries which benefit from United States aid uphold similar political trajectories to the United States.

Not much difference has been articulated in terms of United States President Joe Biden deciding to re-join the UNHRC in 2022. United States Secretary of State Ned Price stated his "concerns" about the organisation. "We will vigorously oppose the councils disproportionate attention on Israel, which includes the councils only standing agenda item targeting a single country." The Trump administrations departure from the international community was based on the same alleged premise.

Agenda Item 7, which focuses upon Israels violations, is a permanent fixture at the UNHRC and the source of much criticism and allegations of "anti-Israel bias" - a term popularised during the Donald Trump era and extended now through the Biden administration. At the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also accused the body of being anti-Israel and the United States return to the international fold as working in Israels benefit.

The UNHRC is just as farcical as the United Nations. Whether the United States re-joins or decides to boycott, nothing changes in terms of human rights violations.

A United States seat on the UNHRC will not alter Joe Bidens foreign policy, nor will it impede the United States from warfare and violence.

In 2020, the United States military spending increased by 4.4 percent from 2019, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The United States is the largest military spender globally, making up 39 percent of the global expenditure in 2020. Anyone rejoicing at the United States decision to re-join the UNHRC might do well to consider the political violence it is applauding.

Neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden have portrayed a stance based on human rights values. The same can be said for previous administrations. However, much has been lost in terms of the significance with which Donald Trump exposed and applied United States foreign policy.

As long as international institutions exist, and human rights rhetoric remains the only threshold in terms of purported accountability, the mainstream narrative will not take stock of the fact that the United States, like international organisations, operates from within a manipulation of the human rights and democratic framework.

The result is a cycle of violations which are then isolated in terms of the oppressed and the oppressor, to forge a collective concern about human rights. Having a few permanent scapegoats, such as Cuba, for example, which has faced decades of dead-end international support against the United States illegal blockade, allows the United States to preside over the democratic debacle, even as it annihilates democratic expression throughout the world.

With or without the United States, the human rights debacle will continue unabated. If, according to the United States, Cuba does not deserve a seat at the UNHRC, what has the U.S. done to deserve it???

In the same vein, given the United States inclusion, what values is the UNHRC seeking to impart??

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