The United States has refused to join the United Nations Human Rights Council since it was birthed in 2006 following the dissolving of its failed predecessor, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. The Obama Administration changed course in March 2009 and now, for the first time, has submitted a report on the status of human rights in the U.S. to the Council, setting up the country to be judged by governments like those of Cuba, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar, Pakistan and Egypt.

The U.S. report for the Council’s Universal Periodic Review states that the country’s participation is not a declaration of solidarity with “states that systematically abuse human rights…There is no comparison between American democracy and repressive states.” It is for this very reason that the U.S. should not be legitimizing the Council with its inclusion and subjecting the country to being judged by the non-democratic member states. Full Piece