Nominator Barack Obama | Formation 1947 | |
 | ||
Inaugural holder Eleanor Roosevelt
as Representative Website U.S. Delegation - Human Rights Council | ||
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council is the diplomatic representative of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The position is located within the United States Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations located at Geneva, Switzerland. A formal title for the position is United States Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council, with rank of Ambassador.
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Up until 2006, the position was commonly known as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, as it was associated to a predecessor organization, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. It was more formally called United States Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and did not at first have ambassadorial rank but subsequently attained it.
History
The U.S. Delegation to the Human Rights Council is a part of the U.S. Mission Geneva, and other U.S. ambassadors stationed in Geneva are the United States Ambassador to United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva (head of the overall mission, and not to be confused with the more well-known United States Ambassador to the United Nations stationed in New York), the United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization, and the United States Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights was formed in April 1946 on a preliminary basis and then in January 1947 on a permanent basis. Former First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt was chosen as its first chair on both occasions. She played a major role in the formation and 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She also served as the U.S. representative to the commission. In 1951 she relinquished the chair but stayed on as the U.S. representative to it.
As with regular ambassadorial posts, nominations are made by the President of the United States and confirmation by the United States Senate is required. Commentary on people holding the post has often been linked with perceptions that the Commission on Human Rights was anti-U.S. and especially anti-Israel.
Besides Eleanor Roosevelt, the position has attracted some well-known Americans, including four past members of the United States Congress, one of whom, Geraldine Ferraro, had been her party's nominee for vice president. The person currently holding the position is Keith Harper, since June 5, 2014.
Ambassadors
The following is a chronological list of those who have held the position, under its various names. (It is unclear exactly when ambassadorial rank happened, but scattered references to the representatives as ambassadors can be found throughout the 1970s.) The position has gone vacant at times when the Commission was not in session or when no presidential appointment had been made or confirmed. The U.S. was voted off the commission for a period beginning in 2001.