London, March 02: The United Nations General Assembly has suspended Libya’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced on Tuesday.
Ban made the remarks in an address to the UN General Assembly in New York.
The UN secretary general also urged the UN General Assembly to act decisively in response to the suppression of popular protests against the authoritarian regime of Muammar Gaddafi and stated that all the violence in the country must be halted immediately.
Ban said that “the international community should remain united” on the crisis in Libya and warned that “thousands of lives are at stake.”
“It is up to us, the community of nations, to stand against the crime of a regime that has lost legitimacy and declared war on its own people,” he added.
It might be necessary to impose more UN sanctions on Libya and “those who commit crimes against humanity should be punished,” the UN chief added.
The UN Security Council has already imposed an arms embargo on Libya as well as a travel ban on government officials in an effort to pressure Gaddafi to stop the crackdown on the opposition.
However, the call to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, proposed by the Security Council in order to stop the airstrikes on supporters of the opposition, has exposed deep divisions among the members of the UN.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that the US is actively discussing the issue with its NATO allies, but US General James Mattis, the commander of the US Central Command, has said that it would be a challenging operation.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the proposal for a no-fly zone does not need UN backing and is “legal without (the) UN.”
Meanwhile, fighting between supporters of the opposition and forces loyal to dictator Muammar Gaddafi continues in Libya.
Pro-Gaddafi forces have now massed in the west of the country and are preparing to attempt to retake the city of Nalut from the opposition.
The fighting, which began nearly two weeks ago, has left about 2,000 people dead.
——–Agencies