UN slams Libya for committing war crimes, criminal offenses against humanity

The United Nations' top human rights body appointed investigators revealed on Monday, 4 October that it has evidence of probable criminal offenses against humanity and war crimes in Libya. They claim that several alleged offenses were perpetrated mostly against civilians and refugees who were arrested in the nation when they tried to flee Europe. Their outcome coincides with a current arrest campaign in Libya that resulted in the imprisonment of over 5,000 immigrants, including hundreds of women and children.

As per the Associated Press, the UN reported that nearly one migrant was killed during the violent campaign. The Libyan government so far has not made any comments on the UN’s findings. However, the government has stated that the arrest campaign was a security action against illegal migration and drug smuggling.  

Report on the crimes against humanity in Libya

The research is the first result of a Human Rights Council-commissioned "fact-finding mission." Murder, torture, slavery, extrajudicial murders, and rape are among the crimes included in the mission. Its publication might serve as a warning to foreign powers such as Russia and the European Union to reconsider their policies and provide support for some of the war's sides.  

According to a US News report, a former Moroccan justice minister who led the investigating team, Mohamed Auajjar, stated that their investigation reveals all participants to the war, including third-country foreign soldiers as well as mercenaries, have breached international humanitarian law, particularly the principles of proportionality and distinction. The probe team further discovered that random disappearances and brutality within Libyan jails might be considered crimes against humanity.  

The UN experts stated that the Libyan coast guard, who has been trained and armed by the European Union for stopping the migrants to travel across the Mediterranean, has committed abuses against refugees and sent some to detention centres wherein torture and sexual abuse are common.

Migrants crisis

The report from the United Nations' International Organization for Migration, which was acquired by the Associated Press, stated that 5,152 immigrants were seized in a string of raids from the western Libyan town of Gargaresh. The migrants were sent to prison institutions in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. At least 4,187 inmates were transported to a single detention camp, including 511 women and 60 children, as per the report's authors. 

According to the report, the Libyan coast guard has apprehended over 87,000 migrants since 2016, with around 7,000 of them being held in detention camps administered by the nation's Department for Combating Illegal Migration. The team claimed it had limited opportunities to Libya. Yet, they have communicated with the prosecutors and Libyan officials. They have even gathered hundreds of documents and interviewed over 150 people which comprises survivors of suspected torture. 

The report is released during a critical moment for Libya as a transitional unity government is preparing to conduct national elections by late this year. Meanwhile, the Libyan legislators passed legislation regulating parliamentary polls on Monday, according to Abdullah Bliheg, a spokesperson for the parliament. Since the collapse of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi a decade earlier, Libya has been ravaged by conflict. For several years, the nation was divided between opposing governments in the east and west, both supported by armed organisations. 

(Image: AP)