WASHINGTON – David N. Cicilline (RI-01), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement after Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced the United States will withdraw as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC):

“The Trump Administration has made a serious mistake withdrawing the United States’ membership on the UNHRC.  Leaving the Council will allow flagrant human rights abusers like China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia to determine its actions. The Human Rights Council is not perfect but it is far better to stay engaged and maintain U.S. influence, which has had a positive effect since joining the Council in 2009, than to cede the forum to those who have no interest in protecting fundamental freedoms.”

“The United States’ departure from the Council will diminish its efficacy and we will see more biased attacks against Israel, and less interest in confronting actual human rights abuses.”  

“It is unsurprising, however, that the Administration would choose to leave the Council at the same time as it is perpetrating human rights abuses against immigrant children within our own borders, a policy that the United Nations and other countries have rightly condemned.  The United States under the Trump Administration is unrecognizable and I will continue to do everything within my power to ensure United States’ policies uphold the values enshrined in our constitution and to return America to being a leader on human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sadly, President Trump has abdicated that role.”