U.S. skips rescheduled U.N. human rights review

The United States left its seat empty at a U.N. review of its human rights record Tuesday, failing for a second time to appear for the examination. The U.N. delayed the review until January after American representatives did not attend.

“The delegation of the United States is not present in the room,” Human Rights Council President Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro of Indonesia announced as the session was set to begin. Washington had also skipped its scheduled review in November 2025. That session was postponed until Tuesday in hopes that U.S. officials would participate, CBS News reported.

The universal periodic review examines every U.N. member state, generally once every four to five years. Governments question the country under review and make recommendations, while civil society groups can submit evidence. The process covers all 193 U.N. members, not just the 47 countries elected to the Human Rights Council.

The Trump administration withdrew the United States from the council after Trump began his second term. CBS News reported that the administration accused the council of bias against the United States and Israel. Leaving the council does not exempt a country from the review process, NPR reported.

A State Department spokesperson said participation would imply endorsement of the council’s work. “This irredeemable body makes a mockery of human rights through consistent failures to uphold its own ‘values’ as it pushes anti-American rhetoric,” the spokesperson said. The official did not respond to allegations about the U.S. human rights record, Al Jazeera reported.

Rights groups that traveled to Geneva urged the U.N. to examine the U.S. record despite the absence of American officials. Jamil Dakwar, the American Civil Liberties Union’s human rights director, accused the administration of continuing to violate human rights “unabashed,” citing its treatment of immigrants, student protesters and the LGBTQ community, according to NPR.

Dakwar called on the council to hold the United States accountable. He also said the ACLU and its allies had asked the U.N. human rights chief to present an update on rights in the United States early next year, CBS News reported.

Countries had prepared questions about the death penalty and abortion access. U.S. and international nongovernmental organizations submitted nearly 200 documents covering issues including migration and racial discrimination, according to Al Jazeera. The Trump administration maintains that migrant deportations comply with U.S. immigration law. CBS News reported that critics have also questioned U.S. killings of alleged drug-runners in the Caribbean and Pacific; the administration says those operations are intended to protect U.S. workers and keep the country safe.

The council says a review cannot proceed without representatives of the country being examined. Israel missed a review in 2013, saying the council was biased against it, but returned after the session was rescheduled, NPR reported. NPR said the United States is the first country to fail to turn up for its scheduled review twice.

Eric Tistounet, the council’s former first secretary and now a visiting professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute, warned that the U.S. absence could weaken the review system. “If the predominant global power — which has always claimed to adhere to the human rights norms — doesn’t show up and doesn’t even justify why, then you are in big trouble,” he said.