WASHINGTON, 15 July 2021, (TON): The administration of President Joe Biden has announced it has invited United Nations racism and human rights envoys to visit the United States as the treatment of minorities in the country continues to face scrutiny.

In the Tuesday announcement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would also issue standing invitations to all UN envoys, known as special rapporteurs, who compile information on race and discrimination, and report back to the international organisation.

Blinken said the administration had already offered an official visit to the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues.

Blinken said in a statement “as the President has repeatedly made clear, great nations such as ours do not hide from our shortcomings; they acknowledge them openly and strive to improve with transparency.”

He added that the Biden administration, which took office in January amid a continuing racial justice movement sparked by the police killing of unarmed Black citizens, sought to “lead by example” and “give new hope and motivation to human rights defenders across the globe”.

There are dozens of UN special rapporteurs, including many who cover human rights in specific countries.

But there are also a number who handle broader rights-related issues, including torture, xenophobia, extreme poverty, the treatment of women and girls, Indigenous peoples, and environmental discrimination.

Blinken also welcomed the adoption of a resolution by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to address racism directed against Africans and people of African descent.