GENEVA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) stated on Thursday that as of Jan.1, 2025, the United States' term as a member had ended, making it ineligible to withdraw from an intergovernmental body it was no longer part of.

"For the record, the United States was a member of the Human Rights Council from Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2024. Since Jan. 1, 2025, the United States is no longer a member of the Human Rights Council and automatically became an observer state, like any of the 193 UN member states that are not Council members. An observer state of the Council cannot withdraw from an intergovernmental body it is no longer a part of," Pascal Sim, spokesperson for the UNHRC, said in a statement sent to Xinhua.

"As a matter of principle, and in the spirit of multilateral dialogue that characterizes the Council, we welcome and encourage the engagement of every UN Member State - whether as a Council member or an observer - in the work of the Council and its mechanisms," the statement added.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order, withdrawing the United States from the UNHRC.

The UNHRC is composed of 47 member states, with approximately one-third of its seats up for election each year. Member states serve three-year terms and may be re-elected once.

During Trump's first term, the United States withdrew from the UNHRC in June 2018. In February 2021, then Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Joe Biden administration would re-engage with the Council as an observer. The United States returned to the body in January 2022 as a full member. ■