United States Becomes First Country to Skip U.N. Rights Review Twice

U.N. Human Rights Council President Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro said “the delegation of the United States is not present in the room.” The 47 member states adopted a delay without a vote, citing “continued non-cooperation.” Anadolu Agency said it was moved to Jan. 18–29, 2027, at the 54th UPR session.

A Second Missed Appointment

The United States was first scheduled on Nov. 7, 2025, did not appear or submit a national report, and the council postponed it to Nov. 10, 2026.

The Trump administration left the council in February 2025, accusing it of anti-U.S. and anti-Israel bias. Withdrawal does not lift the UPR duty, which binds all 193 U.N. members every four to five years, including North Korea.

Washington Calls the Council Irredeemable

In an email to the Associated Press, a State Department spokesperson said, “we give no credibility to the agency,” and called the council an “irredeemable body” that “makes a mockery of human rights through consistent failures to uphold its own ‘values’ as it pushes anti-American rhetoric.” The spokesperson also alleged a “persistent failure to condemn the most egregious human rights violators.”

The department said taking part would imply endorsement, though the United States did file a UPR report in Trump’s first term.

Not the First, but a Repeat

Claims that the United States is the first nation ever to refuse a review overstate the history. Israel skipped a review in 2013 over what it called anti-Israel bias, then returned nine months later after a rescheduling, NPR noted. The second no-show is new: until this week, no country had failed to appear twice.

Cuban Ambassador Rodolfo Benitez Verson said the United States is the only country to refuse a UPR cycle without a national report. The council says a review cannot proceed without representatives of the state being examined.

The European Union said it “regrets any situation in which full engagement … does not occur, including the decision by the United States again not to participate.”

The boycott follows a broader U.S. retreat from U.N. bodies, including the February 2025 withdrawal and later orders to leave dozens of bodies. Washington has also suspended funding, forcing the United Nations to plan deep cuts.

The ACLU went to Geneva, where Jamil Dakwar, director of its human rights program, said the administration was telling the world it would “continue to violate human rights unabashed.” Other states prepared questions on the death penalty and abortion access, and NGOs filed nearly 200 submissions.

Eric Tistounet, the council’s first secretary, said if “the predominant global power — which has always claimed to adhere to the human rights norms — doesn’t show up and doesn’t even justify why, then you are in big trouble.”