The United States stayed away on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, from a United Nations meeting in Geneva where its human rights record under President Donald Trump was due to be examined, drawing criticism from rights groups.

It is the second year in a row that Washington has skipped its own review under the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review, a process that examines the records of all 193 UN member states every few years. The Associated Press reported that the US is set to become the first country to fully shun a regular review of its human rights record since the council was created two decades ago.

The review had originally been scheduled for November 2025, but the council postponed it in the hope that Washington would change course. It did not, and the US no-show is likely to mean the event is postponed again, until January, according to a draft UN document and diplomats cited by Reuters.

Why Washington stayed away

Washington disengaged from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council last year, citing an anti-Israel bias. A US State Department spokesperson said participation in the review would imply endorsement of the council's work.

The Trump administration pulled the US out of the council last year, accusing it of an anti-US and anti-Israel bias and alleging that it did not uphold the values it promotes, the Associated Press reported.

What the review would have covered

Under the Universal Periodic Review, countries submit a rights report and other states provide non-binding recommendations. UN documents show countries had planned on Tuesday to raise issues such as abortion and the death penalty. Fourteen countries are due to take part in the review process in Geneva this month.

Rights groups say violations in the US have surged to levels not seen in decades. Human Rights Watch said US and international rights groups made 192 submissions highlighting a range of concerns, and called for the US to face scrutiny rather than be given another extension.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's human rights programme, told reporters in Geneva on Monday that the administration was telling the world it does not care whether others review it. The ACLU and allied groups have asked the UN human rights chief to present an update on US rights conditions early next year.

In Mr Trump's first term in office, the US submitted its Universal Periodic Review report and took part in the process, a contrast with the two absences that have followed.