US Set To Become First Country To Skip UN Human Rights Review Entirely

The United States is set to become the first country to completely skip a review of its human rights record by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) since the body was established two decades ago. The move marks an unprecedented challenge to the UN's human rights monitoring system under US President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration withdrew the US from the Geneva-based Human Rights Council last year, accusing it of displaying an anti-American and anti-Israel bias and failing to uphold the values it claims to defend. Washington has also questioned the council's failure to condemn serious human rights violations in several countries.

The United States had already skipped its scheduled review in November 2025. The assessment was subsequently postponed to November 10, 2026, in the hope that the administration might reconsider its decision. However, Washington has maintained its refusal to participate.

"We give no credibility to the agency," a US State Department spokesperson told The Associated Press, describing the council as an "irredeemable body" that makes a mockery of human rights through its alleged failures and anti-American rhetoric.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process through which the Human Rights Council examines the human rights records of all 193 UN member states, generally once every four to five years. Governments are expected to present their records, answer questions from other countries and consider recommendations for improving human rights protections.

The council has said that participation by the country under review is necessary. Without US representatives, the scheduled assessment cannot proceed.

The US decision has drawn criticism from human rights organisations, particularly amid concerns over the administration's deportation policies and targeted killings of alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific. Washington has defended these actions as necessary for protecting American workers and national security.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's human rights programme, accused the administration of signalling that it would continue violating human rights without international scrutiny. The ACLU and allied organisations have urged the UN human rights chief to present an assessment of the situation in the US early next year.

Eric Tistounet, a former senior council official and its first secretary, warned that Washington's absence could damage the credibility of the review system, particularly because the US has traditionally claimed to uphold international human rights standards.