Skip to main content
,

Report: Human Rights Violations in Libya during July 2024

Introduction: The Monitoring and Documentation Department of the Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) continued its diligent efforts to observe and d…
| ,
a man standing next to a truck
Armed group checkpoint – Archive photo from social media

Introduction:

The Monitoring and Documentation Department of the Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) continued its diligent efforts to observe and document human rights violations and international crimes committed against civilians across Libya. Through field investigations, the monitoring team recorded two (2) cases of arbitrary arrest involving an activist and a journalist from the cities of Qatrun and Tripoli, and two (2) cases of kidnapping of activists from Misrata. The team also documented an extrajudicial killing at the Internal Security Agency (ISA) Prison in Ajdabiya, and the death of three (3) civilians, including a child and a woman, resulting from the targeting of their car in the city of Al-Ajaylat.

The LCW emphasizes that these figures represent only what has been documented by the field monitoring team and do not necessarily reflect the full extent of the violations that may have occurred during the mentioned period.

Details:

July 3rd:

The LCW monitored the arrest of civil activist and member of the Council of Elders in Qatrun, Mohammed Amoura Abdullah (59 years old). He was arrested near his home by the ISA on July 3, 2024. The arrest was due to his calls on social media for organizing a peaceful sit-in to protest the deteriorating living conditions in Qatrun. Following his arrest, Mohammed Amoura was taken to the ISA’s headquarters in Sebha and, the next day, to the ISA prison in Benghazi. Since then, all contact with him has been cut off, and his fate remains unknown.

July 8th:

The LCW monitored the Kidnapping of activists Al-Mu’tasim Billah Aribi and Mohamed Shtiwi by armed men in civilian vehicles on Benghazi Street in the city of Misrata. Hours after the Kidnapping, activist Mohamed Shtiwi was found on the road in the Siket area on the outskirts of Misrata, showing signs of physical assault. Meanwhile, activist Al-Mu’tasim Billah Aribi remained forcibly disappeared; all security and military entities in Misrata denied responsibility for the incident in their responses to inquiries from his family. On July 11th, activist Al-Mu’tasim Billah Aribi was released after being forcibly disappeared for two days. His captors abandoned him on the side of a road in Misrata.

July 11th:

The LCW monitored the arrest of journalist Ahmed Al-Senussi near his home on Airport Road in Tripoli. He was detained by armed men affiliated with the ISA and taken to the ISA’s headquarters in the Dreibi area of central Tripoli. The arrest occurred one day after Al-Senussi returned to Libya from Tunisia, following threats and extortion faced by employees of the Sada Economic Newspaper, which he manages, from the ISA and the Minister of Economy and Trade in the Government of National Unity (GNU). The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tripoli released Al-Senussi on July 14th, after he had been arbitrarily detained by the ISA for three days.

July 13th:

The LCW monitored the mysterious death of Ahmed Abdel Moneim Al-Zawi (44 years old) inside the ISA prison in Ajdabiya. Al-Zawi had been arbitrarily arrested on July 10th after being summoned by the Internal Security Apparatus to retrieve his brother, who is still detained. Upon his arrival, he was detained without any legal procedures. Later, the family was contacted through intermediaries to collect his body from Mhemed Al-Megreif Hospital in Ajdabiya, where signs of physical violence were evident on his body.

July 15th:

The LCW monitored the discovery of two mass graves in the Al-Giza neighborhood of Sirte, containing 24 decomposed, unidentified bodies. The bodies were exhumed by a team from the General Authority for the Search and Identification of Missing Persons (GASIMP). It is believed that these bodies date back to the period of the war against the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014. The GASIMP in the GNU stated that the bodies were buried after examinations and samples were taken for comparison with missing persons’s records.

July 16th:

The LCW monitored that a (36 years old) woman was seriously injured by a bullet while in her home in the Tajoura area. This incident occurred during clashes between the “Armory Brigade,” affiliated with the Ministry of Defense of the GNU, and the “Martyr Brigade,” also affiliated with the Ministry of Defense of the GNU.

July 21st:

The LCW monitored On July 21st, the killing of Dhu Omar Blebleu (63 years old), his wife Khadija Saleh Al-Sayed (50 years old), and their grandson Zain Al-Kilani (5 years old) after their car was fired upon near their home in the city of Al-Ajaylat, western Libya. The perpetrators were armed men belonging to the Directorate Support Apparatus of the Ministry of Interior in the GNU. Another woman who was with them in the car was injured and taken to the hospital for treatment.

July 28th:

The LCW monitored the discovery of an unidentified body at the Zawiya Refinery Port. According to witnesses, the body belonged to a migrant who had been washed ashore by the waves. The body was retrieved by the Zawiya branch of the Red Crescent and handed over to Zawiya Teaching Hospital.

On the same day, the LCW also monitored the discovery of another unidentified body on the beach near the city of Sorman, believed to be that of a migrant. The Sorman branch of the Libyan Red Crescent, in cooperation with local authorities, retrieved the body and transferred it to Sorman General Hospital.

Recommendations:

  • The LCW strongly condemns the ongoing arbitrary arrest campaigns and holds the authorities in eastern Libya and the GNU fully responsible for the safety and lives of the detainees. We call for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained individuals and demand that the fate of those who forcibly disappeared be disclosed.
  • The LCW calls on the GNU, the Libyan Presidential Council, and the authorities in eastern Libya, including the House of Representatives and the General Command of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), to cease arbitrary arrest, detention, and kidnapping campaigns. The LCW urges these entities to respect their international obligations to ensure freedom of opinion and expression.
  • The LCW urges the Libyan Attorney General to conduct an impartial and transparent investigation into the death of Ahmed Al-Zawi inside the ISA prison in Benghazi, the circumstances of his detention, the campaign of arbitrary arrests in both eastern and western Libya, and the killing of three civilians in the city of Al-Ajaylat. We call for the identification and accountability of those responsible.
  • The LCW urges the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to pressure all parties in Libya to respect human rights and international humanitarian law, work towards achieving transitional justice and comprehensive national reconciliation, and end the state of impunity.
  • The LCW on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to establish an independent international mechanism to investigate the violations and international crimes committed in Libya and to identify those responsible for accountability. This is proposed as an alternative to the fact-finding mission (FFM) whose mandate ended in March 2023.
  • The LCW urge the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to continue investigations into crimes committed in Libya and not to stop them at the end of 2025, to ensure that perpetrators do not escape punishment.