US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Photo: Exxon Mobil via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned that without “considerable reform” of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the US might withdraw from that body.

Addressing UN advocates and human rights groups, Tillerson conveyed skepticism of the UNHRC’s devotion to defending human rights, basing his critique on the body’s allowance of nations with poor human rights records — such as China and Saudi Arabia—to be involved with the council.

Tillerson said that as of now, the US would continue participating in the 47-member council, but added that America “continues to evaluate the effectiveness” of the organization. The secretary of state also noted the Trump administration’s “strong principled objection to the Human Rights Council’s biased agenda against Israel.”

The UNHRC has repeatedly singled out the Jewish state for criticism and has passed more resolutions censuring Israel than any other nation in the world, including notorious human rights violators such as Iran, Syria and North Korea.