Parliament needs the final say on human rights

Co-operation, and sharing the nuclear deterrent with France, is the best way to ensure the UK retains the ability to project force around the world, writes Malcolm Rifkind

The Harper government has given three United Nations rapporteurs permission to come and probe Canada’s record on human rights, treatment of aboriginals and discrimination against women, as Canada was scrutinized Friday by the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, the National Post has learned.

GENEVA – A UN expert called Thursday for a global moratorium on the development and use of armed robots that can select and kill targets without human command. “War without reflection is mechanical slaughter,” said Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. “A decision to allow machines to be deployed to kill human beings worldwide – whatever weapons they use – deserves a collective pause,” he told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

GENEVA — The United Nations’ top human rights body unanimously approved Thursday a formal probe into North Korea for possible crimes against humanity, despite warnings of “serious consequences” from the reclusive nation.

Twelve Syrian human rights organisations called on the government on Tuesday to scrap the state of emergency which has stifled civil society for almost 50 years."The state of emergency affects human rights and public freedoms which are the subject of continuous violations in Syria," said the human rights advocates, some of them from Syria's Kurdish minority.

The United Nations suspended Libya from its main human rights body over Moamer Kadhafi's crackdown on protests as the Security Council warned of new action against his regime.With growing western calls for a no-fly zone over Libya, Britain's UN envoy said the council would take "whatever measures we consider necessary to respond to events on the ground."The 192-member assembly passed a suspension resolution by consensus, without a vote, after UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged the body to "act decisively."