Nikki Haley: If Biden rejoins Human Rights Council ‘it will fly in the face of our fight for human rights’

Former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned Monday against President Biden’s pledge to rejoin the U.N.’s Human Rights Council.

In a tweet, Haley called the body a “cesspool of political bias” and warned that rejoining the committee would impede the U.S.’s commitment to upholding human rights.

“The UN Human Rights Council is a cesspool of political bias that makes a mockery of human rights. If Biden rejoins the council whose membership includes dictatorial regimes & some of the world’s worst human rights violators, it will fly in the face of our fight for human rights,” she tweeted.

The UN Human Rights Council is a cesspool of political bias that makes a mockery of human rights. If Biden rejoins the council whose membership includes dictatorial regimes & some of the world’s worst human rights violators, it will fly in the face of our fight for human rights.

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 25, 2021

Controversy has surrounded a number of U.N. Human Rights Council members, chiefly Cameroon which is ruled by Paul Biya, the second-longest serving African ruler who has faced criticism over the years for harsh treatment of both journalists and opposition figures.

The Trump administration directed the U.S. to exit the Human Rights Council in 2018, with then-Ambassador Haley using similar language to describe the council at the time.

“Regrettably it is now clear that our call for reform was not heeded,” she said in June of that year. “Human rights abusers continue to serve on, and be elected to, the council.”

“For too long the human rights council has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias,” Haley added at the time.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.