WASHINGTON—The Biden administration said it would resume cooperating with the United Nations Human Rights Council and would seek to overhaul the group, which critics say focuses on Israel while ignoring others.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the U.S. would begin working with the Council as an observer in the immediate term. Mr. Blinken didn’t say whether Washington would seek a seat on the Council when a position becomes available.
“When it works well, the Human Rights Council shines a spotlight on countries with the worst human-rights records and can serve as an important forum for those fighting injustice and tyranny,” Mr. Blinken said.
The Trump administration withdrew from the Council in 2018, saying it had been a failure and calling it hypocritical.The U.S. on Monday participated in a regular organizational meeting of the Council in Geneva, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Also Monday, Mr. Price said the State Department is removing the Houthi insurgent group in Yemen from its list of terrorist organizations. The move was in large part due to concerns that the terrorism designation makes it harder for aid groups to deliver assistance and take steps to alleviate human suffering in the country’s civil war, according to congressional aides briefed on the decision.