UN suspends Libya from rights council

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

UNITED NATIONS – The 192 U.N. member nations suspended Libya on Tuesday from the U.N. Human Rights Council in the latest international effort to halt the Gadhafi regime's violent crackdown on protesters.

The General Assembly voted by consensus on the council's recommendation to suspend Libya's membership on the U.N's top human rights body for committing "gross and systematic violations of human rights." General Assembly President Joseph Deiss called for the vote and signaled its adoption by consensus by banging his wooden gavel.

The resolution sponsored by Arab and African states also expressed "deep concern" about the human rights situation in Libya.

The vote does not permanently remove Libya from the council, but prevents it from participation until the General Assembly determines whether to restore the country to full status. The 15-member Security Council slapped an arms embargo, a travel ban and assets freeze, on Moammar Gadhafi, his family and top associates during an emergency weekend meeting.

The vote was welcomed by the United States, which has imposed its own sanctions on the Gadhafi government.

"People who turn their guns on their own people have no place on the Human Rights Council," U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said.

"This is a harsh rebuke, but one that Libya's leaders have brought down upon themselves," she said. "It sends another clear warning to Mr. Gadhafi and those who stand by him: They most stop the killing."

Gadhafi "has lost any legitimacy to rule," Rice said. "He must go, and he must go now."
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Wow, they grew a pair. who knew?