US tells UN rights body to end focus on Israel

The United States calls on the UN Human Rights Council to drop its “obsession with Israel.”

In a speech before the Geneva-based council, US envoy Erin Barclay says the United States’ commitment to human rights “is stronger than ever.”

“Regrettably, too many of the actions of this council do not support these universal principles. Indeed, they contradict them,” says Barclay, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs.

She cited ongoing abuses in Syria and North Korea, and noted in particular the top UN human rights body’s long-standing focus on Israel.

“The obsession with Israel…is the largest threat to this council’s credibility,” says Barclay, a career diplomat.

“When it comes to human rights no country should be free from scrutiny, but neither should any democratic country be regularly subjected to unfair, unbalanced and unfounded bias,” she adds.

— AP