The New US Administration Must Recommit To Human Rights At Home And Abroad: UN Experts

GENEVA (27 February 2025) – UN human rights experts* today expressed concerns about the new US administration’s recent actions that undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms at both domestic and international levels and harm the UN Charter-based international order, and called on the United States as well as the international community to recommit to human rights. They issued the following statement:

“As government leaders and representatives from all over the world gather in Geneva this week for the 58th session of the Human Rights Council, we are concerned by the attempts of the new US administration to weaken domestic human rights protections, harm the international human rights and humanitarian systems, roll back decades of progress on gender equality, and undermine international institutions and civil society worldwide. We call on all States to reaffirm their full commitment to the multilateral international order with human rights and freedoms at its core and to demonstrate their readiness to defend it.

We are alarmed by the United States’ escalating attacks on the international architecture of human rights, the rule of law, multilateralism, the principles of sovereign equality and self-determination, and vital international agreements on peace and security, climate change, global justice, and international cooperation. Rather than weakening it, the United States must play a pivotal role in strengthening the multilateral system and its institutions, with the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at its core, that it was instrumental in co-creating.

The UN Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of member states. Threats to reclaim the Panama Canal, “take over” and “own” Gaza by forcibly expelling the Palestinian population, make extortionate demands on Ukraine for its critical minerals as a price for support to resist Russia’s war of aggression, or gain control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, are blatantly illegal acts under international law. Any attempt to undermine the territorial integrity of sovereign States and the inalienable right to self-determination of peoples of those States should stop.

We are deeply concerned by the abrupt decisions of the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as well as international institutions such as the Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization, and to review its participation in the United Nations and other international organisations. The US decision to use sanctions against the International Criminal Court and its personnel, and to threaten anyone who collaborates with them, is a direct attempt to weaken the rule of international law, human rights and global justice. The United States is also cutting international assistance dramatically, including by eliminating agencies such as USAID and ceasing funding to the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. All these actions have already had – and will continue to have – serious real-world impacts, affecting the lives, wellbeing, livelihoods and human rights of hundreds of millions of people, including the most vulnerable or marginalised populations.

These regressive actions are not happening in a vacuum but take place alongside an active undermining of respect for human rights within the United States. We are dismayed at the US administration’s firing of independent justice officials, failure to fully comply with court orders, the rollback of policies and programmes on climate change as well as equality, inclusion and diversity, retrogressions to the human rights of women and girls, the demonisation of transgender people, persecution and forced deportation of migrants, threats to journalists, students and freedom of expression more generally, censoring and removal of public information, and lack of transparency and blatant disregard of public accountability for its actions.

We are also distressed by the problematic role of leading business actors in the new US administration, who are exerting undue influence without any mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest. This opens the door to corporate capture of the US Government and further weakens the independent responsibility of businesses and other private entities to respect human rights and the environment.

In today’s globalised and multi-polar world, no country can function without international cooperation and respect for international law. Collective actions premised upon mutual respect and international solidarity are required to overcome pressing global challenges. We urge the US administration to reconsider its policies, particularly in light of its own history with struggles for freedom and equality and its valuable contributions to the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the current multilateral system.

Now more than ever, it is the time for States, civil society, businesses, and all people who believe in the value of the rule of international law, justice, human rights, peace and security and sustainable development to come together to vehemently defend these core values and the institutions that safeguard them.

We remain ready to work constructively with the United States and other States to create a world that is safe, peaceful, just, equal, inclusive, sustainable and prosperous for everyone.”

*The experts: Bina D’Costa (Chair), Barbara G. Reynolds, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent ; Muluka-Anne Miti-Drummond, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with Albinism; Lyra Jakulevičienė (Chairperson), Pichamon Yeophantong (Vice-Chairperson), Fernanda Hopenhaym, Robert McCorquodale, Damilola Olawuyi, Working Group on business and human rights; Elisa Morgera, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change; Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights; Surya Deva, Special Rapporteur on the right to development; Heba Hagrass, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Gabriella Citroni (Chair-Rapporteur), Grażyna Baranowska (Vice-Chair); Ms. Aua Baldé, Ms. Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, Mr. Mohammed Al-Obaidi (members), the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; Astrid Puentes Riaño, Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Marcos A. Orellana, Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Cecilia M. Bailliet, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity; Beatriz Miranda-Galarza, Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy; Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito (Chair-Rapporteur), Ravindran Daniel, Michelle Small, Joana de Deus Pereira, Working Group on the use of mercenaries; Gehad Madi, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Genevieve Savigny, Chair of the Working group on peasants and other rural workers; Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Ashwini K.P., Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Mama Fatima Singhateh, Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children; Graeme Reid, Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery; Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Bernard Duhaime, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence; Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; Laura Nyirinkindi (Chair), Claudia Flores (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Ivana Krstić, Haina Lu, Working Group on discrimination against women and girls; Nils Muižnieks, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus; Elizabeth Salmón, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Mai Sato, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; Eduardo Gonzalez, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali; Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 ; Mariana Katzarova, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation; Isha Dyfan, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia

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