N.Korea, Mali could stir up UN Human Rights Council

GENEVA (AFP) - Widespread abuses in North Korea and Mali are set to be the subject of heated debate at the 22nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which kicks off on Monday, observers say.

Around 100 ministers and other dignitaries are set to take part in the most important of the council's three annual sessions, which will last from Feb 25 through March 22.

Among the many resolutions set to be adopted during the final two days of the session is one that would pave the way for a commission of inquiry into rights abuses in secretive North Korea.

It would mark the first "initiative to do a comprehensive investigation on systematic violations of human rights and crimes against humanity" in North Korea, Ms Juliette De Rivero, head of Human Rights Watch's Geneva office, said.