The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is one of the United Nations’ most important mechanisms for reviewing human rights conditions and holding governments accountable for their international obligations. Libya’s fourth UPR cycle provides an opportunity to shed light on ongoing violations and the lack of serious steps toward accountability and reform.
In this context, Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) submitted its report, titled “A Call for Accountability“, to the Human Rights Council, based on four years of field monitoring and continuous documentation. The report highlights key patterns of serious violations and the urgent need for tangible measures to protect victims and prevent recurrence.
Since the last review in 2020, violations by authorities in both eastern and western Libya, as well as affiliated armed groups, have continued. The report focused specifically on three major issues due to their severity and systematic, widespread nature:
- Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, targeting activists, journalists, and individuals based on their political opinions.
- Religious persecution and restrictions on freedom of belief, including the targeting of followers of Sufi orders.
- Attacks on activists, journalists, and civil society, undermining freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly.
LCW put forward a set of urgent recommendations aimed at addressing the most prominent violations and protecting victims. Among these recommendations were the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained individuals, ending cases of enforced disappearance, repealing restrictive laws, and taking urgent measures to protect journalists and human rights defenders from detention, torture, and unfair trials.
LCW’s contribution went beyond its individual report, forming part of a broader effort that included three joint submissions prepared in collaboration with international and regional organisations, including the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the Libyan Anti-Torture Network (LAN), Access Now, and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM). These joint reports focused on issues such as torture and ill-treatment, violations of freedom of expression, the right to association and peaceful assembly, migrant rights, and ongoing threats against journalists, bloggers, and human rights defenders.
These efforts are part of LCW’s ongoing advocacy at both national and international levels, aimed at highlighting the human rights situation in Libya, amplifying the voices of victims, mobilising international support for accountability, and pressuring Libyan authorities to fulfil their international human rights obligations.
You can read the full report here:
