By DPA,
Geneva: The UN Human Rights Council named Friday the members of a special commission that will investigate abuses during the ongoing political unrest in Libya.
The experts are Cherif Bassiouni, Asma Khader and Philippe Kirsch – the latter having served as the first president of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
All parties to the conflict will be subjected to scrutiny, according to the UN, amid allegations of human rights violations and possible crimes against humanity.
On Feb 25, the 47-member council resolved by consensus to establish an independent and international commission of inquiry following a special emergency session on the troubled North African country.
The commission is due to report back to the council at its next session in June. On Monday, as part of its ongoing session, the council is scheduled to hold a new discussion on Libya, as fighting continues between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.
Kirsch, a Canadian lawyer, served as a judge at the ICC from 2003 to 2009 and is considered a leading expert on international law.
Bassiouni, the chair of the commission, is an Egyptian human rights expert who teaches law at DePaul University in Chicago. He has worked for the UN as a war crimes expert, including in an investigation into the former Yugoslavia, and also was part of a
commission that established the ICC in The Hague.
Khader, is a former Jordanian minister of culture and founded a local human rights group, along with having worked for the International Commission of Jurists.
The ICC is also examining allegations of crimes in Libya, as part of a separate investigation, following a referral last month from the UN Security Council.