Coming in the midst of appalling reports of children being separated from their parents and detained in distressing conditions, the announcement that Trump now plans to quit the UN Human Rights Council has elicited sharply hostile responses. Amnesty International posted the following tweet.
Hillel Neuer of UN Watch responded by supplying ten good reasons for doing just this. (You can read them here.) He also spoke very eloquently about the problems with the UN Human Rights Council on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland earlier today (from about 47 minutes in). He pointed out not just the glaring problems with some countries on the Council but also the way they are supported or indulged even by countries with comparatively good records. You don’t have to think Trump’s decision was the right one (Neuer doesn’t) or in any way approve his own record on human rights to think that some of the blanket, kneejerk condemnation of the move is misplaced.
