U.S. boycotts U.N. human rights review for second year running

The U.N. Human Rights Council meets at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on September 30, 2026. The United States has boycotted its human rights review for the second year running. Lian Yi/Xinhua via Getty Images hide caption Lian Yi/Xinhua via Getty Images GENEVA, Switzerland — The United States has left an empty chair at a key United Nations human rights review for the second year running, becoming the only U.N. member state ever to do so. The review, known as the universal periodic review, is meant to be just that: universal. Each state is reviewed every four to five years by fellow member states. The aim is to ensure that every country, however powerful, undergoes a peer review of its human rights record. As well as diplomats from countries under review, civil society groups are allowed to submit evidence too. Several made the trip to Geneva, led by the American Civil Liberties Union. Jamil Dakwar, the ACLU's human rights director, told journalists that the current U.S. administration was continuing to violate human rights "unabashed," citing the treatment of immigrants, student protesters and the LGBTQ community as examples. Dakwar said the U.N. must hold the U.S. accountable, ...