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The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) have officially expressed their concerns over the US’ decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council.
The Trump Administration made the decision earlier in the week, amid a backdrop of migrant children being detained in cages as part of the country’s extreme approach to border control.
Why have the US pulled out of the UN Human Rights Council?
They cite “a bias against Israel” as one of their main reasons for pulling out of the UNHRC and even had the temerity to blast the Council for protecting human rights abusers.
Their relationship with the UN has particularly soured following violence that flared up between Israel and Palestine last month. The US made the ill-advised decision to move their embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, causing mass protests in the West Bank.
Scores of Palestinians died as Israeli soldiers opened fire on demonstrators.
The latest decision by the US follows a series of withdrawals from key multilateral bodies, including binding decisions and the concomitant withholding of funding to these bodies.
South Africa reacts to US withdrawal from UNHRC
Their position isn’t sitting well with the South African government. They released a statement on Thursday afternoon which questions the logic behind the decision:
“This development is indeed worrisome and goes against the letter and spirit of multilateralism and the Charter of the United Nations, of which the US was one of the founding countries.”
“The challenges facing the global community are such that solutions can only be found in working together.”
The @DIRCO_ZA said this development is indeed worrisome and goes against the letter and spirit of multilateralism and the Charter of the @UN , of which the #US was one of the founding countries https://t.co/4QecLemHXH #UNHRC pic.twitter.com/1jpVwMcT03
— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) June 21, 2018
The message from Pretoria is one of grave concern. Dirco were also keen to express their commitment to the UNHRC, describing it as a “principal organ” for the protection of human rights across the world.
