The following is an excerpt of the US Human Rights Record from 1999 to 2018 on unilateralism :

2018

Unilateralism is Losing Ground

The United States shirked international responsibilities, carried out the unilateralist America First policies unscrupulously, repeatedly withdrew from international organizations, bullied the weak, and caused human rights disasters in its overseas military operations, and became a "trouble maker" that the international community widely condemned.

Withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council. After withdrawing from international treaties such as the Paris Climate Agreement and international organizations including the UNESCO, the United States brazenly announced its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council on June 19, 2018. Just a day earlier, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights criticized the United States for forcibly separating children from their parents after they crossed the border into the U.S. According to a report released by The Atlantic on June 20, 2018, human rights expert said that one of Trump's most likely, and most insidious, arguments for the move was to prevent the United States from being called out on its own alleged human-rights abuses.

Reduction of humanitarian aid. The State Department announced on August 31 that the United States would no longer contribute to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, and threatened to cancel the assistance programs to Palestine worth over 200 million U.S. dollars in the West Bank and Gaza, aggravating the already serious humanitarian situation in the area (www.washingtonpost.com, August 31, 2018; edition.cnn.com, August 31, 2018).

Refusal to close Guantanamo military prison. Despite years of strong condemnation and appeal from the international community, the United States decided to break its promise and keep the notorious Guantanamo military prison in Cuba open. Most of the prisoners were without trial (www.aljazeera.com, February 1, 2018). Los Angeles Times reported on its website on July 26, 2018 that a Pakistani, mistaken for an extremist, was imprisoned and tortured in Guantanamo for as long as 14 years without trial, resulting in serious physical and mental damage.

Civilian casualties as result of overseas military operations. According to a CNN report on April 14, 2018, the United States and its allies, without concrete evidence or UN Security Council authorization, launched a strike on Syria in the name of striking Syrian chemical weapon facilities. The Guardian reported on November 28 that at least 30 Afghan civilians, including women and 16 children, were killed in U.S. air strikes in the Afghan province of Helmand. The United Nations said the number of civilian casualties from air strikes in the first nine months of 2018 was already higher than in any entire year since at least 2009 (www.theguardian.com, November 28, 2018; www.latimes.com, November 30, 2018).

Associated Press reported on November 14, 2018 that the United States had been engaged in a drone war in Yemen for 16 years, causing a large number of civilian casualties. At least 30 civilians were killed in a drone strike in 2018. Statistics showed that the United States had launched 176 drone strikes in 2017 and 2018, leading to 205 deaths. CNN reported on December 16, 2018 that a war-torn Yemen was in the midst of mass famine and cholera outbreak, with more than 22 million people requiring humanitarian assistance and protection. An estimated 85,000 children under the age of 5 in Yemen may have died from starvation and disease. Chris Murphy, a U.S. senator, said "US is enabling war that has made Yemen a hell on earth for civilians." "There is a US imprint on each of these civilian deaths."