UN bars media watchdog

Libya's appointment was heavily criticised

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been suspended from taking part in United Nations meetings for a year.

The decision was in response to a highly visible protest the group staged in March over the appointment of Libya to chair the UN Human Rights Commission.

Group members scattered leaflets criticising Libya's record on human rights during the opening meeting of the commission's annual session, briefly interrupting proceedings.

RSF condemned the suspension, calling it a "farce of the kind that increasingly characterises the commission on human rights".

This is a dictatorial decision Reporters Without Borders

Other groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also opposed the choice of Libya to chair the commission this year.

However only RSF took the protests inside the debating chamber - something the UN says contravenes its own resolutions on relationships with NGOs.

The decision means RSF will not be able to present evidence of violations of press freedoms during UN meetings, including next year's annual session.

'Affront'

The group's press credentials are being revoked as the result of a vote by the UN's Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc), which is in charge of accreditation.

It upheld a complaint from Cuba, voting 27 to 23 in favour of the ban, with four abstentions. Other states voting for included China and Libya itself.

A spokesman for RSF called the decision dictatorial and added that it increased concern that the Human Rights Commission was being hijacked by countries with poor human rights records.

It has published on its website a report detailing what it calls "the excesses, blunders and setbacks" of the UN rights commission.

In the report, it describes the election of Libya to chair the commission as an "affront to human rights".