Liberals split on membership of UN Human Rights Council

Liberals are divided over whether Australia should stay in the UN Human Rights Council.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop: ‘Australia shares many of the concerns held by the US’. Picture: AFP

Liberal conservatives are divided over whether Australia should stay in the UN Human Rights Council after the US yesterday withdrew, with Liberal senator James Paterson declaring the country must remain as a “night watchman” against “anti-Israel bias”.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the US move was a disappointment and revealed Canberra had unsuccessfully lobbied senior Trump administration officials for the US to remain as a member.

“It was our strong preference for the US to remain a member of the UNHRC and I had made this known to senior members of the Trump administration,” Ms ­Bishop said.

Announcing the withdrawal, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the council made “a mockery of human rights” by ­allowing ­authoritarian states such as China to join.

“Look at the council membership and you see an appalling disrespect for the most basic rights,” Ms Haley said, pointing to council members including China, Cuba, Venezuela and Democratic Republic of Congo.

“For too long, the Human Rights Council has been a protector of human rights abusers, and a cesspool of political bias.”

GRAPHIC: The UN Human Rights Council

The announcement came after the top UN human rights official, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, criticised Washington for separating ­migrant children from their parents who are seeking asylum after crossing into the country from Mexico.

The Trump administration has previously threatened to pull out of the council because of “chronic anti-Israel bias” and the US boycotted the council for three years under ­George W. Bush.

Australia campaigned for two years to win a seat on the council, expiring at the end of 2020.

The Australian Jewish Association yesterday called on the ­Coalition to follow the US.

“This should be a simple case of doing what is right and we call on Australia to join with our major ally the US and take a stand on principle and also announce withdrawal from the UNHRC,” AJA president David Adler said.

Ms Bishop said Australia was also worried about the anti-Israel tilt of the council, which recently launched an investigation into protests in Gaza during which ­Israeli troops shot dead at least 132 Palestinians.

“Australia shares many of the concerns held by the US about the UNHRC, particularly its anti-­Israel bias, and we have consistently supported efforts to address other matters of contention,” she said. “(But) we are committed to … effective and meaningful ­reform to enable the council to more ­effectively carry out its role.”

Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who former prime minister Tony ­Abbott has recently backed as a “good and vocal advocate” of conservative positions, said Australia should pull out of the council.

“Without the USA in, I’d question our value of continuing — but (I’d) also note, we don’t need to be in the UNHRC to take a strong stance on human rights issues around the world,” Mr Kelly told The Australian.

He said the council housed a host of dictators and despots from the most repressive regimes in world. “In fact the membership of the UNHRC has given legitimacy to numerous repressive regimes — the very antithesis of what supporting human rights should be about.”

Tasmanian senator Eric Abetz lauded the US decision but said Australia should not follow yet.

“We should watch, wait and see. If the council doesn’t reform itself following the US departure, we should similarly follow suit. I am hopeful though that it won’t come to that,” Senator Abetz told The Australian.

Senator Paterson, a strong supporter of Israel, said it was now even more important Australia remained on the UNHRC.

“Australia’s place on the Human Rights Council is in some ways now more important than ever,” he said. “We will have to be the night watchman to call out the frequent hypocrisy and misplaced priorities of the council, especially its anti-Israel bias.”

Australia has been a strong supporter of Israel on the international stage. Recently only Canberra and Washington opposed a vote in the UN Human Rights Council to set up an investigation into the deaths of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces after violent protests in Gaza.

Australia voted against all five different resolutions which focused on the rights of Palestinians and Israeli settlements at the latest normal session of the council in March.

Labor Senator Penny Wong echoed the government’s disappointment with the US decision and said the move could empower authoritarian regimes.

“The absence of a nation looked to as global leader risks emboldening those who do not share our support for democracy and human rights,” she said in a statement.

The United States has been one of the most vocal critics of international rights abuses – including in China which seeks to reshape the global approach to human rights to push back at the more interventionist approach of the west.

In late March, China was successful in passing a motion calling for a “mutually beneficial co-operation in the field of human rights” which was opposed by the US. Australia abstained and issued a critical statement.

Long-time China expert and author of the Sinocism newsletter, Bill Bishop, said the US withdrawal was a “win for China”.