The United States officially withdraws from the UN Council for Human Rights; Nikki Haley, the U.S. envoy in the UN said that as quoted by Reuters. This is due to Washington's protest against the fact that 'no country has enough courage to join our struggle for reformation of the hypocritic and biased body', as Haley put it.
She added that this step does not mean the U.S. throws away its commitment to the cause of human rights protection.
'The disproportionate focus and unending hostility toward Israel is clear proof that the council is motivated by political bias, not by human rights', the U.S. official said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the U.S. decision, Reuters mentioned.
Donald Trump's administration has considered the opportunity to withdraw from the UN Council for Human Rights since early 2017.
Previously, Ukraine was elected the member of the UN Council for Human Rights in 2018-2020.
Earlier this month, The UN General Assembly elected Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's permanent envoy in the UN, as the Vice President of the 73rd session of the Assembly. The press service of the UNGA reported this on Twitter.
"Ukraine is ready to actively contribute to the implementation of the UN General Assembly’s tasks on the whole range of issues, from maintenance of international peace and security to fulfillment of the goals of stable development and protection of human rights," Yelchenko said after the election, Ukrinform cited.
He also noted that the Ukrainian delegation to the United Nations during the next sessional year would actively support the proper organization and effective work of the session of the General Assembly.
The session will start working in September.
