Tripoli – The capital, Tripoli, witnessed significant progress in drafting a law on missing persons during a meeting held on September 17 and 18, as part of the “Addressing the File of Missing Persons in Libya” initiative, launched by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Libya).
The meeting was the culmination of a full year of consultations and included 46 participants representing the House of Representatives, the Presidential Council, the High Council of State, the General Authority for the Search and Identification of Missing Persons, and the National Council for Civil Liberties and Human Rights, in addition to experts in law and forensic medicine, and representatives from civil society and academia.
Participants discussed the draft law article by article, agreeing on a number of fundamental principles, most notably the need to form a unified national committee for missing persons with clear powers, with the aim of reducing institutional duplication and ensuring the effectiveness of search and identification efforts.
Attendees also stressed the importance of aligning the law with international standards on enforced disappearance, strengthening the protection of the rights of affected families, and linking the missing persons file to transitional justice paths in Libya.
The draft law was prepared based on a broad legal survey and national consultations supported by UNSMIL and UNDP, while participants provided additional recommendations concerning the structure of the proposed committee, its legal mandate, and ensuring its compliance with international standards in this field.