(CNSNews.com) – Some of the world’s most repressive regimes joined others at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, making recommendations to the United States on how it can improve its human rights record.
A number of the delegates taking part urged the U.S. to return to the Geneva-based HRC, from which President Trump withdrew in 2018, citing an anti-Israel bias and the presence on the council of rights-abusing nations. While campaigning, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden pledged to re-engage and rejoin.
Racial tensions, military interventions, and “Islamophobia” featured among the issues raised. The occasion was the “universal periodic review” (UPR) of the U.S., a mechanism under which every country’s rights record is assessed by the council every four years.
From Belarus’ representative Andrei Taranda came the recommendation that the U.S. amend its legislation “to ensure that elections are held in accordance with international standards.”
Belarus, where a contested presidential election over the summer sparked widespread unrest and state repression, also proposed that the U.S. “ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is respected,” and “refrain from the use of force and lethal weapons when dealing with protests.”
From Khawla Youssef of the Assad regime came the suggestion that U.S. authorities “hold U.S. military personnel to account for war crimes committed in Syria,” and Jairo Rodríguez of Cuba called on the U.S. to “put an end to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment to migrants and asylum-seekers”
Turkey’s Erdal Onat called for “urgent measures to counter institutionalized racism, especially within law enforcement agencies,” while Maduro regime representative Jorge Valero urged the U.S. to “end state terrorism, punish those who commit murder, torture, disappearances, and use lethal force and violence against Afro-Americans and ethnic minorities.”
China’s Jiang Duan advised the U.S. to “root out the systematic racism, address widespread police brutality, and combat discrimination against African- and Asian-Americans,” and the representative of the Stalinist regime in Pyongyang, Han Tae Song, said the U.S. should “close illegal U.S. secret detention facilities and end the violations by U.S. forces in foreign lands.”
Iran’s Mohammad Sadati Nejad called on the U.S. to “end systematic, arbitrary killing by drone and prosecute and punish all involved in criminal assassination of Iranian nationals including General [Qassem] Soleimani, the anti-terrorism hero.” A photo of the slain Qods Force chief was placed strategically behind him.
Pakistan called on the U.S. both to “immediately resume its engagement with the Human Rights Council” and to “take a meaningful and demonstrable step to end Islamophobia and hate speech, including through criminalization.”
Following Monday’s three-plus hour “interactive dialogue” among delegates, a “troika” of randomly-selected countries will compile a document containing recommendations arising from the proceedings. The full HRC then “adopts” that document, and the U.S. will be expected either to accept or “note” each recommendation. The troika overseeing the U.S. review comprises Germany, the Bahamas, and Pakistan.
The U.S. fielded an interagency delegation of officials, in person and remotely, to present a report to the council.
“Promoting human rights is a U.S. foreign policy priority that furthers our national interests of stability and democracy,” said Assistant Secretary Robert Destro, who led the delegation.
“The United States is committed to using its voice and its position on the world stage to draw attention to violations and abuses of human rights, no matter where or when they occur. We are committed to advancing human rights worldwide, as well as accountability for those who abuse those rights.”
In a statement marking the process, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. “has been, and always will be, a leader in transparent, rights-respecting governance,” adding that its participation in the UPR underscored its “longstanding role as a global leader in advancing human rights.”
“We don’t simply discuss human rights in the United States,” Pompeo said. “We cherish and defend them.”