The United Nations Human Rights Council has postponed an investigation into the United States’ human rights record until January after Washington refused to meet.
Published November 10, 2026
The United States has again boycotted a United Nations human rights record review, drawing criticism from rights groups who say human rights abuses under President Donald Trump have soared to levels not seen in decades.
U.S. representatives did not attend the U.N. in Geneva on Tuesday for the review, which is conducted every four to five years by all 193 U.N. member states.
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Indonesian President of the United Nations Human Rights Council Siddart Reza Surodipulo announced shortly before the session began that the U.S. delegation was not present in the chamber.
The U.N. agency postponed an investigation into the U.S. human rights record until January after the U.S. refused to participate. This is the second year in a row that the U.S. government has skipped an independent review.
The United States withdrew from the council in February 2025, shortly after President Trump began his second term as president, claiming that the council was biased against Israel.
The Trump administration has been fiercely critical of the United Nations, withdrawing Washington from key institutions, cutting its funding, and launching a war against Iran that bypasses the organization.
A State Department spokesperson said participation meant supporting the council’s work.
“(We) do not have any confidence in the agency,” the spokesperson said.
“This irredeemable organization consistently fails to uphold its ‘values’ and makes a mockery of human rights while promoting anti-American rhetoric,” the official added, without responding to allegations about the U.S. record.
The 47-member council has not directly criticized Washington’s rights record. But experts have expressed alarm over issues such as the deportation of immigrants, which Washington says is being done in accordance with U.S. immigration law.
According to UN documents, countries planned to raise issues such as access to abortion and the death penalty.
U.S. and international nongovernmental organizations also submitted nearly 200 U.N. submissions, covering topics ranging from immigration to racism.
“Enough is enough,” Jamil Dakwar of the American Civil Liberties Union told reporters in Geneva.
“We have witnessed an unprecedented assault on fundamental human rights and civil liberties for generations,” he added.
Fourteen countries are expected to take part in the review process, which will take place this month in Geneva. During President Trump’s first term, the United States submitted the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report.
Eric Tistone, a visiting professor at the Geneva Graduate School and first secretary of the council, said the US strike could affect the credibility of the council’s review system.
“If the world’s dominant powers, which have always insisted on respecting human rights norms, don’t show up and even justify why, then we’re in big trouble,” he said.
