Blinken invites UN envoys on racism, minority issues to visit US

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday announced that he has invited the United Nations' envoys on racism and minority issues to visit the U.S., a move that immediately drew criticism.

Blinken said the U.S. will issue a "formal, standing invitation to all U.N. experts who report and advise on thematic human rights issues" and has already reached out to the U.N. special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on minority issues to invite them to make an official visit. Rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council who will typically gather information on their respective issues and then issue a public report. The U.S. left the Human Rights Council in 2018 due to its anti-Israel bias and the makeup of its membership, which included countries with abysmal human rights records. The Biden administration has sought to rejoin it.