© UN Web TV
ISHR, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Advocates for Human Rights, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and Human Rights First delivered a joint statement at the Human Rights Council on the United States' refusal to cooperate with the Universal Periodic Review.
The joint statement was delivered at the 61st session of the Human Rights Council, at a General Debate under Item 6.
Read it in full below:
We deeply regret the United States’ refusal to participate in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) or respond to Special Procedures communications, demonstrating a flagrant disregard for universal human rights and cooperative multilateralism.
This disregard is evident in both US domestic and foreign policy.
At both the national and international levels, we witness the increasing and unlawful use of force by US authorities – from the murder of peaceful protestors in Minnesota, to the extrajudicial killing of people in the Caribbean and the Pacific, to the bombing of school girls in Iran.
We deplore rising discrimination and the targeting of minority groups by US authorities, including attacks on Black communities, people of colour, migrants, refugees, Palestinian activists, trans people and women.
We condemn the erosion of the rule of law and accountability mechanisms, including through the targeting and sanctioning of lawyers, prosecutors, judges and this Council’s own Special Procedures.
And we condemn US efforts to repress dissent, from the suppression of university protests, to the sanctioning of NGOs which cooperate with this Council.
Consistently with the Council’s prevention mandate, we call on the High Commissioner and Special Procedures to increase monitoring and reporting on the United States.
And in the interests of our common humanity, we call on all States to speak up and reject lawlessness, authoritarianism and neo-colonial power. Our collective interests are best served not by bowing down to bullies, but through coordinated action to uphold human rights and the international rule of law.
Watch the full statement here:
This year eleven activists completed ISHR’s flagship training, the Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme, to strengthen their advocacy skills and develop an individual roadmap to push for change in their country.
At the 62nd Human Rights Council session, civil society organisations shared reflections on key outcomes and highlighted gaps in addressing crucial issues and situations.
On the sidelines of the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, defenders and activists examined how systemic discrimination and democratic backsliding are deeply intertwined. Drawing on lived experience, speakers argued that marginalised communities are often the first to detect authoritarian practices, and offered concrete recommendations for building more inclusive, resilient democracies.
