US delegation walks out of UN Security Council chamber in protest against France

The US delegation walked out of the UN Security Council chamber during France‘s remarks on Monday, accusing Paris of using the forum to deliver a politicized criticism over the US position on renewing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk‘s mandate.

“I must point out that there is a member of this Council that will feign moral outrage and pretend to lecture the rest of us about every topic, whether it’s about the very conflict we’re discussing yet again today, or even those unrelated to international peace and security, like human rights,” US Representative to the UN Economic and Social Council Dan Negrea said.

Negrea criticized the French position on Türk’s mandate, saying: “This disingenuous grandstanding is tiresome, but we have tolerated it out of a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect as P5 members.”

“As such, we will not be affording them the benefit of listening to their politicized drivel until they renounce their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric and behave in a manner commensurate with their seat on this Council,” he added.

France’s UN envoy Jerome Bonnafont defended his country’s approach, saying: “We work to preserve this institution, its independence, its ability to act in service of the Charter and act to serve human rights and peace.”

The US delegation’s walkout protest came in response to a post on US social media platform X by the French mission in Geneva, saying: “The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore.”

Sharing the results of the voting for Türk’s mandate, the French mission argued that the US “stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it.”

Last week, the General Assembly approved Türk for a new term as UN high commissioner for human rights with 144 nations in favor and 13 abstentions. The US was among only 10 countries that voted against the appointment alongside Israel, Russia and Argentina.