A two-minute and six-second video of former U.S. President Donald Trump has been circulating on Threads, with claims that he has canceled a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) report that contained allegations against Sheikh Hasina. However, a FactWatch investigation reveals that the claim about Trump overturning the UNHRC report on human rights violations in Bangladesh during the July-August uprising is incorrect. The viral video, recorded on February 4, shows Trump signing an executive order to withdraw the United States from the UN Human Rights Council. Nowhere in the video does he mention Bangladesh or Sheikh Hasina. Moreover, at the time the video was recorded, the UNHRC had not yet released its report on human rights violations and repression during the uprising—it was published later, on February 12. This means the viral video had already been on the internet before the report was even made public.

A fact-check using relevant keywords led to a full eight-minute video report on the British news outlet Sky News' YouTube channel, posted on February 4. The footage confirms that Trump had indeed signed an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the UNHRC. The White House website also published this executive order on the same day, citing that the UNHRC was protecting human rights violators, prompting the U.S. to reconsider its engagement with the organization. Notably, this was not the first time Trump took such action—he had previously withdrawn the U.S. from the council in June 2018. After Joe Biden assumed office, his administration reinstated U.S. support for the UNHRC, and in October 2021, the U.S. secured a seat in the 47-member council. However, in September of last year, the Biden administration announced that the U.S. would not seek re-election for a second consecutive term in the council.

Meanwhile, the UNHRC's report on human rights violations and repression during the July-August uprising in Bangladesh was published on February 12. The 114-page document directly holds the former government and the ruling party, the Awami League, responsible for acts of brutality and crimes against humanity during that period.

Following the report’s publication, Trump met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to the U.S. last Friday. During a joint press conference after the meeting, a question from an Indian journalist brought up Bangladesh. In response, Trump outright rejected any U.S. involvement in the fall of the Awami League government during the uprising. He stated, "There was no role played by our deep state there. This is something Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has been working on for a long time." Pointing toward Modi, Trump further remarked, "To be clear, India has been involved there for hundreds of years, and he has studied these matters." He then added, "But regarding Bangladesh, I will leave it to the Prime Minister," signaling Modi to respond. However, Modi, in his response, only discussed India's stance on peace in Ukraine and did not comment on Bangladesh.

Beyond these events, there is no credible information from reliable sources indicating that either the U.S. government or Trump has made any statement regarding the UNHRC report on human rights violations during the July-August uprising.

Considering all available evidence, FactWatch has determined that the claim that Trump canceled the UN Human Rights Council report on Bangladesh is false.

Original News Source: https://www.fact-watch.org/trump-revoked-the-un-human-rights-council-report-bangladesh/