Haley blasts rights groups for undermining US

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is accusing human rights groups of undermining the United States and putting themselves “on the side of Russia and China” by seeking to prevent the US from leaving the UN Human Rights Council.

Haley criticized the non-governmental organizations in a letter the day after she announced the US was exiting the council. A copy of the letter was obtained by The Associated Press.

Haley says the organizations wrote a joint letter to members of the Human Rights Council urging them to oppose a US-sponsored resolution to reform it. She says they tried to “block negotiations” and “thwart reform.” Haley says that was “a contributing factor” in the US decision to leave the council.

Haley urged the groups to play a constructive, not destructive, role in human rights in the future. She added the US will work with non-governmental groups that share US goals, “but not with ones who undermine them.”

— AP