UN Human Rights Council postpones US review to January 2027 due to Washington's non-participation

UN body reacts to US absence from human rights review

The UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday expressed 'regret' over the 'continued non-participation' of the United States in the human rights review mechanism and called on Washington to resume its participation, Anadolu reports. The decision was taken at an organizational meeting in Geneva after the US twice failed to appear for the scheduled reviews of its report under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

Two postponements and a new date

The US review was originally scheduled for November 7, 2025, then postponed to November 10, 2026 — and on both occasions it did not take place due to the American side's non-participation. The Council has now decided to hold the review on January 18–29, 2027, during the 54th session of the UPR Working Group. The Council also instructed its president to 'continue to take all appropriate steps and measures' to encourage US cooperation and to report on these efforts at regular sessions. In addition, the Council agreed to consider further appropriate measures before the end of that session, taking into account the scheduled conclusion of the fourth review cycle in mid-2027.

What the UPR is

The Universal Periodic Review is a peer-assessment process under which the human rights records of all 193 UN member states are examined. It allows countries to present the measures they have taken to improve human rights protection and to identify existing problems. Thus, the US non-participation affects not a single country but the work of a universal mechanism covering all members of the organization.