Nikki Haley: The Human Rights Council Remained Silent on Iran's December Protests

The U.S. representative to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, accused the UN Human Rights Council of ignoring human rights violations and stated that the council did not respond during the nationwide protests in Iran in December. In a meeting held on Wednesday afternoon, July 18, at the conservative think tank 'Heritage Foundation' in Washington, she said: 'In December and early this year, the people of Iran took to the streets and peacefully protested against their horrific government. The government responded with beatings, arrests, and killings, and the Human Rights Council remained silent.' The nationwide protests in December resulted in at least 25 deaths, hundreds of injuries, and around five thousand arrests. Following these protests, at the request of the U.S., a meeting was held in the UN Security Council regarding the unrest and the suppression of protesters, which ended without any specific results. Haley, while discussing the reasons for the U.S. withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, emphasized the importance of human rights for the U.S. and referred to the Security Council meeting about Iran. She also cited agenda item number seven as one of the main reasons for leaving the council. According to this agenda item, human rights violations by Israel against Palestinians must be discussed at every Human Rights Council meeting. Haley stated that this council has not considered such a permanent agenda for any other country, 'neither Iran, nor Syria, nor North Korea.' She emphasized that since the U.S. joined the council in 2009, despite patience and efforts from the U.S., the council has not made the necessary 'reforms,' which ultimately led to the U.S. exit from the council. The United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council at the end of June. The U.S. representative to the UN also cited the membership of countries like 'Cuba, Venezuela, and China' in this council as another reason for the U.S. exit, emphasizing that these countries are 'among the worst human rights violators.' She added that some member countries secretly expressed 'disgust' at the membership of countries like 'Cuba, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Congo' in this council, but all these statements were limited to closed-door discussions away from public view. Haley, without naming these countries, said that although they also believe in the inherent dignity of human beings, 'they lack the courage to make changes' and added: 'They have votes and voices, but their decision is not to use them.' Nikki Haley also stressed that the U.S. exit from this council does not mean a lack of activity in the field of human rights, citing that this month the United States has managed to thwart Russia and China's efforts to reduce the number of UN peacekeepers. She accused the UN Human Rights Council of 'political corruption and moral bankruptcy' and reiterated the U.S. desire to reform the council, stating that 'correcting the flaws' of this council has been and will remain one of the priorities of the UN.