US Mission Geneva

The outcomes of the 28th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) underscored the importance of robust U.S. engagement at the Council.

The concerns of the United States about the existence of a “right to development” are long-standing and well known. The “right to development” does not have an agreed international meaning.

The independence of the thought and action of the High Commissioner and his office is crucial for the advancement of the human rights agenda.

Actions which help move the parties toward a two-state solution remain the surest way to protect the human rights of Palestinians and Israelis alike.

As the ILO has noted previously, gender based violence is “the most prevalent human rights violation in the world” and its existence is a “major challenge to the goal of equality between women and men.”

The DPRK is among the world’s most pervasive deniers of freedoms and violators of human rights.

The importance of respect for human rights is front and center in the UN drug conventions, a cornerstone of all international drug control policy, as well as in all the declarations and resolutions from the General Assembly and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). There is no dispute on the role of respect for human rights in drug control efforts. That is why we join consensus on this resolution.

We thank the Iraqi delegation for presenting this important resolution on “Technical Assistance and Capacity Building in strengthening human rights in Iraq in light of the Abuses committed by ISIL and associated groups.” We are pleased to co-sponsor this text and strongly encourage its consensus adoption.

The United States will again co-sponsor this important resolution on the “Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” and urges all members to support it.