New York, NY, March 31, 2009 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed concern with the decision of the Obama Administration to join the United Nations Human Rights Council.  ADL had urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to seek reform of the Council before deciding to join it.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

We recently wrote to Secretary Clinton requesting that the U.S. seek reform of the Council before deciding to become a member.  Now that the decision has been made, we hope the U.S. will take decisive action to reverse the bias and politicization that has plagued the U.N. Human Rights Council and set it on a course toward fulfilling its mandate – addressing the real human rights concerns around the globe.

There is no question that the U.S. can play a decisive role in making U.N. institutions more effective, but the Human Rights Council has deep systemic flaws.  We remain concerned that the U.S. decision to join the Council before meaningful reforms are put into motion may not achieve this desired goal.

Since its inception in 2006, the HRC has virtually ignored the major human rights violations of our times and instead has repeated the entrenched, institutionalized anti-Israeli bias of its predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights.  The HRC has maintained a perennial special agenda item focused exclusively on Israel’s human rights records and encourages outrageously one-sided reports by its special rapporteurs and the regularly held “special sessions” on Israel.

We hope the U.S. will be vociferous in its representations against the one-sided anti-Israel pronouncements and can be a force for change within the body.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.