Amnesty International has released its annual report, which monitors the state of human rights in the world. The part on Libya showed the existence of flagrant violations of human rights
“Several countries, including Russia, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates, violated the UN arms embargo, established since 2011, by retaining foreign fighters and military equipment in Libya.” said Amnesty International’s 2022/2023 report.
Unlawful Attacks:
“While the national ceasefire in place since October 2020 generally held, militias and armed groups violated international humanitarian law during sporadic, localized armed clashes, including by carrying out indiscriminate attacks and destroying civilian infrastructure and private property,” the international non-governmental organization said.
“In August, clashes between militias in densely populated Tripoli neighbourhoods left 32 people dead, including three children and other civilians, and led to damage of scores of civilian homes and other property, and at least four medical facilities. In September, a child and at least six others, mostly civilians, were killed during clashes between rival militias in the city of al-Zawyia,” the report added.
This is in addition to the death of a child and at least six others, most of them were civilians, during clashes between rival militias in the city of Zawiya last September, and the deaths of at least 39 people across the country as a result of the detonation of landmines and unexploded ordnance, the UK-based organization explained.
Impunity:
“Officials and members of militias and armed groups responsible for crimes under international law enjoyed near total impunity. Authorities continued to fund abusive armed groups and militias, integrating their members into state institutions without vetting,” Amnesty explained.
“In November, the GNU appointed Emad Trabulsi, commander of the Public Security Agency militia, as acting minister of interior, despite his militia’s well-documented involvement in crimes against migrants and refugees,” the report said.
In this context, Amnesty International says “Libyan authorities took no steps to hold JOF militiamen accountable for the extrajudicial execution of 27-year-old Altayeb Elsharari in March, and continued to provide state funding to the militia.”
Mass Graves in Tarhuna and Sirte:
“Mass graves were discovered in the cities of Tarhouna and Sirte, believed to contain the remains of individuals killed by al-Kaniyat and Islamic State armed groups, respectively. Ongoing investigations into unlawful killings carried out by al-Kaniyat while they controlled Tarhouna until June 2020 were marred by concerns over their independence, effectiveness and transparency, and the absence of prosecutions in fair trials in front of regular courts of those against whom there is sufficient admissible evidence of involvement in crimes,” the report indicated.