UN Human Rights Council to praise Libya's human rights record

and efforts to combat human trafficking and corruption. Oman, which is facing protests of its own, praised Libya during the review for its “clear commitment” to protecting human rights through a “legal framework.”

Canada noted two very specific developments — legislation granting women married to foreigners the right to pass on Libyan nationality to their children and an acknowledgement by the government of hundreds of prisoners deaths in 1996.

The commentary included some criticism, particularly from the United States and several European nations.

The United States, according to the report, called on Libya to “comply with its human rights treaty obligations.” The U.S. also expressed concern about limited freedom of speech, politically motivated arrests and “reports of the torture of prisoners.”

The last half of the report covered recommendations for Libya to improve conditions in the country. Libya backed dozens of generally worded recommendations to improve human rights, advance the status of women and “abolish” the use of torture. At the same time, Libya rejected recommendations to curb “arbitrary detention,” among others.

Fox News notes that the Human Rights Council is notorious for showing an anti-Israel bias and being slow to condemn human rights abuses by countries aligned with certain members of the 47-member council. The panel was boycotted by the United States during the Bush administration, but President Obama reversed policy in 2009 and sent a U.S. delegation to Geneva.

With the backing of the United States, however, the council easily passed a resolution Friday condemning Libya’s abuses in response to the latest unrest, calling for an international inquiry and recommending the nation be suspended from the council itself.

The UN General Assembly is expected to vote on that resolution this week. The UN Security Council has separately approved a tough set of sanctions against the Libyan regime, imposing an arms embargo among other penalties and referring the case for an international war crimes investigation.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, spoke bluntly about Gaddafi’s abuses Monday, saying he is “delusional” and that his regime is “slaughtering his own people.” She praised the UN for potentially compelling the regime to make a choice between ending the violence and being “held accountable” for continued abuses.

“In Libya, the United Nations is demonstrating the indispensable role that it can play in advancing our interests and defending our values,” Rice said.

Neuer, however, questioned how the United Nations could move so vigorously toward approving sanctions without sidelining the human rights review from last year.

“Given that Libya’s diplomats themselves have admitted their regime is a gross violator of human rights … how can the Human Rights Council adopt this report?” he said. “How can they with a straight face adopt the recommendations and the assessments?”