The U.S. is set to become the first country ever to avoid review of its human rights record

This week, the U.S. government was meant to be reviewed at the United Nations as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, a peer-to-peer assessment of every country’s human rights record. In August, the Trump administration withdrew from the process and the U.S. is set to become the first country ever to avoid review. There will be more developments coming from Geneva later this week, but for now we wanted to share more about what this unprecedented moment means.

The U.S. is pulling out of human rights mechanisms like the UPR so that it can get away with upending civil rights protections, eliminating the social safety net for millions of people, criminalizing and torturing migrants, sending weapons to Israel to perpetuate genocide against Palestinians, and expanding the scope and cruelty of our criminal legal system.

In preparation for the review process, the Center for Constitutional Rights joined civil society partners to submit a record 155 stakeholder reports to the Human Rights Council shining light on human rights violations committed by the U.S. across communities. You can read our six reports here. Earlier this summer, we supported over 150 state and local officials who wrote a letter to the Human Rights Council to voice their disapproval of the Trump administration’s actions and to recommit to promoting human rights in their jurisdictions. This week, we are co-sponsoring two events in Geneva, where human rights defenders, impacted people and elected officials will be telling the truth to the international community and demanding action.

For nearly 60 years, the Center for Constitutional Rights has similarly leveraged the international human rights framework to promote human rights, to hold states and corporations accountable, and to articulate our demands for a world order rooted in human dignity. Successive U.S. administrations have enjoyed impunity for human rights violations and thus degraded the multi-lateral system, but the Trump administration is making unprecedented moves to eliminate the system entirely. For all of its flaws, the human rights at the heart of the UN system are worth fighting for with everything we have. Stay tuned for more information about efforts to breathe life into the norms and values that inspire our resistance.

In solidarity,

Nadia Ben-Youssef
Advocacy Director