Human Rights Under Trump: White House Refuses To Attend Critical Inter-American Hearing For The First Time

President Donald Trump’s White House failed to attend public hearings for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights this week, marking the first time the nation was absent from the annual event since the Organization of American States created the commission in 1959, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

ACLU lawyers, present for a meeting Tuesday to discuss the new White House administration’s agenda, shared photos with International Business Times showing several empty chairs where U.S. officials were supposed to be seated discussing Trump’s travel restrictions, immigration policies and the Dakota Access Pipeline, among other issues.

Read: Stopping Border Immigration: As Trump Builds His Wall, A Battle Wages Over Human Rights Conflicts

Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, condemned the Trump administration’s absence Tuesday when speaking at the public hearing.

"Today’s no-show is a new low," Dakwar said. "The Trump administration's decision is an unprecedented show of disrespect to the international community that will alienate democratic allies."

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has served as a critical component in extending and promoting human rights throughout the Americas, investigating human rights abuses and in denouncing military dictatorships in Latin America.

"Refusing to engage with the commission is an isolationist policy that mirrors the behavior of authoritarian regimes and will only serve to embolden them," Dakwar said Tuesday. "This is another worrying sign that the Trump administration is not only launching an assault on human rights at home but is also trying to undermine international bodies charged with holding abusive governments accountable."

The Trump administration didn't comment on its absence from this week's event, but it may reportedly boycott an upcoming session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council over concerns about the group's perceived anti-Israel agenda.

"The U.N. has been Israel-bashing for decades," Nikki Haley, the U.S.' ambassador to the U.N. who would reportedly boycott the session, said in a Fox News interview Friday. "What we are trying to do is make sure they understand that there's a new administration in town and we're not going to put up with it."