U.S. human rights report adopted amid voices calling for improvements

The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted on Thursday the United States' second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report, after the country's draft UPR report was adopted by council members in May this year.

Out of the 343 recommendations made by over 100 council member states, the U.S. government has supported in whole or in part 260, representing close to 80 percent of total recommendations.

"Through this UPR process, we have been asked to hold a mirror up to ourselves and to honestly evaluate what we're doing well, and what we need to be doing better," said Deputy Assistant Secretary in the United States Department of State Scott Busby.

The U.S. has supported many recommendations made in the areas of civil rights to work towards eliminating racial discrimination and excessive use of force by law enforcement while also improving the country's criminal justice system.

The Deputy Assistant Secretary also noted that a number of recommendations relating to the protection of the rights of indigenous people, national security, labour and human trafficking, as well as international treaties were supported by the U.S. government.

"We support recommendations asking us to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the International Labour's Convention number 111," said Busby, adding that the U.S. supported recommendations to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Though U.S. civil society was successfully called upon prior to its review, according to Human Rights Watch, the U.S. needs to improve its engagement towards UPR recommendations in light of the country's waning efforts after its last UPR cycle in 2010. Endit