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US walking away from U.N. rights forum -diplomats

06 Jun 2008 15:50:07 GMT
Source: Reuters

GENEVA, June 6 (Reuters) - The United States has quietly informed Western allies of its intention to walk away from the U.N. Human Rights Council, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

The U.S. delegation has observer status, with the right to speak, in the 47-member state forum, which meets in Geneva, and has never stood for election to the Council since it was set up two years ago.

Diplomatic sources and rights activists said that U.S. officials had informed the European Union on Friday morning of its intention to halt its involvement in the Council.

"They said they were going to disengage totally," said one representative of a rights watchdog group.

In a Council debate on Friday on the situation in Myanmar, the United States failed to take the floor on a topic on which until now it has always been vocal, a possible sign that it had little further interest in the body. The Council replaced the widely discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

But it is seen by critics as having fallen under control of a bloc of Islamic and African countries, which have a majority when backed by their frequent allies Russia, China and Cuba.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva, home to the U.N. European headquarters. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Robert Evans)

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