UNHRC unanimously calls for Libya to be suspended from body and for proble into violations by regime

The UN Human Rights Council unanimously called Friday for Libya to be suspended from the body and for a probe into violations by the regime, in a dramatic session which witnessed the defection of Tripoli's envoy.
  
In a resolution adopted by consensus, the 47 member UN body decided to "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry... to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in Libya."
  
It also "recommends to the United Nations General Assembly, in view of the gross and systematic violations of human rights by the Libyan authorities," to consider suspending the country from the Human Rights Council.
  
Libya was elected in May 2010 to the council after obtaining 155 votes in a secret ballot from the 192-state General Assembly.
  
However, Moamer Gaddafi’s regime's move to dispatch its army and air force to fire on civilians prompted the council's special session in condemnation of what it believed could "also amount to crimes against humanity."
  
Libya's envoy at the UN in Geneva used the occasion to make a dramatic and emotional public announcement of his defection, as even Cuba, a traditional Gaddafi ally, decided not to oppose the condemnation.
  
"We in the Libyan mission have categorically decided to serve as representatives of the Libyan people and their free will," the diplomat told the council, speaking in Arabic. "We only represent the Libyan people, we will serve as their representative in this august body and in other international fora. Thank you," he added, to applause from the Human Rights Council. He asked not to be named out of fear of reprisals.
  
The Libyan seat had remained empty through the morning of Friday's debate as envoys across the world spoke out against the deadly repression in Libya. But the diplomat appeared at the start of the afternoon session, asking for a moment's silence, then reading from the Koran "in honor of the memory of the martyrs of 17 February."