Antony J. Blinken 71st U.S. Secretary of State | Official Website
During the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the United States collaborated with UN Member States to address pressing human rights concerns and uphold universal values and principles foundational to the UN system. The U.S. emphasized its commitment to promoting human rights universality by addressing discrimination, inequity, and inequality.
The session saw the United States advancing priorities across a broad spectrum of human rights and fundamental freedoms. These included economic, social, and cultural rights.
One key focus was renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur (SR) on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. The U.S., in collaboration with the EU and other partners, underscored this mandate's importance due to ongoing human rights violations in Eritrea, including arbitrary detentions related to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, religion or belief, and repression against those objecting to compulsory national service.
Another priority was renewing the mandate of the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Equity and Justice in Law Enforcement (EMLER). The United States strongly supported this renewal and co-sponsored a resolution that passed by consensus. EMLER aims to advance rights for marginalized racial, ethnic, and Indigenous communities globally. An official country visit from EMLER was hosted by the U.S. in April 2023.
Gender equality and empowerment were also central themes. The U.S. reaffirmed support for eliminating discriminatory laws and practices affecting women and girls' human rights, health, and welfare through several key resolutions. Additionally, as part of the Group of Friends on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, efforts were made to protect LGBTQI+ persons' human rights.
The United States joined consensus on various resolutions concerning Rohingya Muslims' human rights in Myanmar; technical assistance for Libya; continuing international expert Antonia Urrejola's work on Colombia's 2016 peace agreement implementation; independence of judiciary-related issues; promotion of human rights during peaceful protests; freedom of expression; seafarers' human rights; child safety online; and free secondary education's importance.
Joint statements led by the United States included condemning conflict-related sexual violence globally and highlighting transnational repression used by some countries against critics beyond their borders through intimidation or violence. Another joint statement focused on athletes as defenders of human rights.
Additionally, joint statements addressed situations in Georgia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria as well as supporting women’s economic empowerment initiatives; women's roles in diplomacy and human rights advocacy; women's and girls’ human rights; sexual orientation; gender identity issues among others.
A significant side event co-hosted with the EU discussed joint guidance for online platforms aimed at protecting online HRDs (Human Rights Defenders). Panelists highlighted growing threats faced by HRDs online emphasizing cross-platform collaboration necessity.
Further side events co-sponsored by the U.S covered topics like arbitrary detention prevention decriminalization homelessness LGBTQI+ issues Belarusian affairs building disability-inclusive post-2030 agenda among others.
