US and France clash over UN vote on human rights chief

A diplomatic dispute flared on social media over the weekend as US and French officials exchanged sharp criticism over a United Nations vote on a top human rights post.

The controversy began after the UN General Assembly approved Volker Turk for another term as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, with 144 nations in favor and 13 abstentions. The US was among a small group of just 10 nations including Israel, Russia and Argentina that opposed the appointment.

In a video clip shared on the US social media platform X by the American mission, US Ambassador Jeff Bartos asserted that the UN human rights system has been "losing credibility for decades" and accused Turk of leading it to its “deathbed.”

The Permanent Mission of France to the UN in Geneva shared the US statement in a post on X and accused Washington of having lost its moral standing.

“The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore,” it said, adding the United States now stands alongside adversaries such as North Korea and Russia.

"And the world no longer listens to it," the French mission wrote.

US representative to the UN Mike Waltz called the French response a "shameful" attempt to deflect from Paris's decision to "coddle some of the worst human rights abusers." He alleged that France is "cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors" while lecturing “free, sovereign democracies like the United States, the UK, and Israel.”

The exchange turned increasingly hostile when US Congressman Randy Fine mocked France’s military history.

“Don’t you have someone to surrender to?” Fine remarked, referring to the French surrender to Nazi Germany in 1940.