Geneva: The UN Human Rights Council will kick off a new session Monday under a cloud of growing US criticism and the threat of Washington withdrawing from the body altogether.
Longstanding US criticism of the council for its alleged bias against Israel has escalated since UN-sceptic Donald Trump came to power.
US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley gave a fiery speech before the Geneva-based council a year ago, demanding deep reforms to fix its "chronic anti-Israel bias".
She also demanded the body throw out abusive regimes, like Venezuela and Burundi, which hold seats on the rotating 47-seat council.
Despite the tough US rhetoric -- which essentially said reform or we are leaving -- little has changed. Tired of waiting for reform, Washington a few weeks ago circulated a proposed resolution unilaterally laying out the full makeover it was looking for.
But the US received little support and has not yet formally tabled the resolution, sparking fevered speculation it was about to quit, and fears of the impact that would have.
"If they withdraw, one can expect serious consequences for the council," Swiss ambassador to the UN in Geneva Valentin Zellweger told reporters this week. The US draft text called for dramatic changes to the rules governing how the General Assembly in New York elects countries to fill vacant council seats.