UN Watchdog Encourages Trump Admin To Demand Resignation Of Top UN Human Rights Official

A top United Nations watchdog is encouraging Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), to push for the resignation of a top human rights official who has given a pass to some of the world’s most oppressive regimes. 

UN Watch released a report on Tuesday revealing that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has ignored some of the world’s most oppressive regimes. The report argues that Türk has given a pass to actual human rights violators while disproportionately targeting Israel, the United States, and other democracies.

“It’s absurd that UN human rights chief Volker Türk has condemned the United States more than he has condemned all of China, North Korea, Cuba, and Qatar combined,” Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, told The Daily Wire. “He needs to resign. We are hopeful that new Ambassador Elise Stefanik will call on Türk to go.”

Stefanik, nominated by Trump in November, is expected to shake up the UN. A staunch supporter of Israel, Stefanik has been critical of the UN, stating in October that the United States should do a “complete reassessment” of its UN funding if the Palestinian authority succeeded in their “antisemitic pursuit” to expel the Jewish state from the UN General Assembly.

“American taxpayers have no interest in continuing to fund an organization that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have allowed to rot with antisemitism,” Stefanik wrote. “They must take the names of any country supporting this blatantly immoral effort and make clear the position of the United States – the UN’s single largest source of funding.”

According to the UN Watch report, Türk, who has been serving in his position since October 2022, has condemned the United States more than China, North Korea, Cuba, and Qatar combined. In fact, Türk has not touched on the human rights violations in Cuba, North Korea, Algeria, Eritrea, Mauritania, Lebanon, and Qatar, according to the report, but he has condemned American allies such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, France and Israel.

To craft the report, UN Watch reviewed every country criticism by Türk on his UN website since his tenure began in October 2022. It included statements published by him and his spokespeople. It rated the severity of the condemnations as weak, moderate, and strong.

China has received a total of three condemnations, two being ranked as moderate and one as strong, but none of them mentioned the ongoing genocide of the Uyghurs by the communist regime. As many as a million or more Uyghurs have been detained without reason, according to the State Department.

The report accuses Türk of condemning Israel far more than any other country, with a total of 58 condemnations, 49 of which pertain to the Hamas-Israel war. In fact, it points out that Israel was condemned more than all non-democratic countries combined.

UN Watch

“Türk has made more statements on the Hamas-Israel war than on wars that directly affected millions of more people, with more statements about Gaza than all of his total combined statements on Ukraine, Sudan, and Myanmar,” the report states.

The report highlights that although the war in Sudan also began in 2023, it has already killed tens of thousands of civilians and created more than 2 million external refugees, which is nearly the population of Gaza. Another 8.1 million Sudanese people have been internally displaced as well.

The report also slammed Türk for putting out condemnations against Israel that were informed by misinformation or incomplete facts.

“Immediately after the October 17 incident at Al Ahli hospital, Türk published a strong statement condemning the ‘massive strike at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital’ in which civilians ‘had been seeking refuge,’ implying that Israel was behind the strike,” the report states. “When it was later confirmed that the hospital had been hit by a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket, Türk did not issue a clarification and did not condemn PIJ for firing the rocket.”

It added that Türk rushed to “voice his horror,” claiming that Israel hit a “camp for displaced people” in May after Israel struck a Hamas target. An Israeli report later found that deadly fire after the strike was caused by secondary explosions from Hamas munitions illegally stored among civilians. UN Watch says Türk never corrected the record and that his initial statement was “effectively absolving Hamas of any responsibility.”

UN Watch criticized Türk for being weak in his statements on Hamas which are usually tied into anti-Israel statements and hardly refer to the name Hamas directly, instead referring to the terror group as ‘Palestinian armed groups.’

Türk often uses Gaza casualty numbers put out by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, without stating that the number cannot be independently verified and can include both combatant and civilian deaths, according to the report. Even after the UN itself acknowledged discrepancies in the Hamas data and cut in half its count of women and child deaths, the High Commissioner has continued to uncritically parrot these Hamas casualty numbers. 

Türk frequently cites Gaza casualty figures provided by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry without clarifying that the numbers cannot be independently verified and that the UN has acknowledged discrepancies in Hamas data and halving its reported count of women and child deaths, the High Commissioner.

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Additionally, the report notes that Türk made 15 statements on Afghanistan, which has faced numerous accusations of human rights violations since the Taliban seized power in 2021, and 11 statements on Iran which is notorious for its human rights abuses.

According to the report, Türk has been silent on the election of human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, Qatar, and Eritrea to serve on the Human Rights Council and when the Islamic Republic of Iran was made chair of the UN Human Rights Council Social Forum.

UN Watch called for all democracies to pull out of the UNHRC unless Türk resigns by January 1st.

“Democracies should stop lending legitimacy to a UN human rights system that has become corrupted by selectivity, politicization, and the dangerous domination of dictatorships,” UN Watch’s report stated.

Türk did not respond to a request for comment.