U.S. Becomes First Nation to Refuse a U.N. Human Rights Council Review

The United States is set to become the first nation to fully skip a review by the U.N. Human Rights Council, CBS News reported ^[1].

A State Department spokesperson said the United States gives the council no credibility and called it an "irredeemable" body that mocks human rights and fails to condemn serious violators, CBS News reported ^[1]. The Times of Israel reported that Washington has missed three dates for officials to face questions from other countries, which has kept the process from moving forward ^[2].

What the review is

The Geneva-based council checks the human rights records of all 193 U.N. member states, usually every four to five years, in a process called the Universal Periodic Review, CBS News reported ^[1]. A country's delegation presents its record, answers questions and receives recommendations from other governments. The council says a review cannot go forward without the country taking part ^[1].

How it got here

The Trump administration pulled the United States out of the Human Rights Council in 2025, accusing it of anti-American and anti-Israel bias, CBS News reported ^[1]. The U.S. then missed its scheduled review a year ago. That review was postponed to November 10, 2026, in hopes Washington would reconsider, and it did not ^[1]. Al Jazeera reported that the council has now delayed its examination of the U.S. record until January ^[3], and NPR reported this is the second year running that the U.S. has stayed away ^[4].

The critics

Rights groups say the absence weakens global accountability ^[4]. Jamil Dakwar, who leads the ACLU's human rights program, said the move signals that the U.S. does not care about outside review, and the group has asked the U.N. human rights chief for an update on the U.S. record early next year, CBS News reported ^[1]. A former council official warned that if the world's leading power skips the process, the whole system is in serious trouble, and critics fear other countries will follow ^[1].

The case for staying away

The administration's position is that the council has earned its reputation. Over the years it has seated governments with some of the worst human rights records on earth and has singled out Israel far more often than any other country. To many Americans, a council where abusers sit in judgment has lost the moral authority to lecture the United States.

CBS News noted that the U.S. has faced international criticism over deportations and strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific, actions the administration says protect American workers and national security ^[1].

What it means

America's record on liberty is not measured in Geneva. It is measured in a Constitution that protects free speech, free worship and the right to a fair trial, and in courts and elections that hold leaders accountable at home. Walking away from a broken institution is not the same as walking away from human rights.

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