+ A
A -
United States
AFP
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging the Libyan government to bring all prisons under its control and free from the grip of militias, some of whom run migrant-smuggling networks.
Guterres said in a report to the Security Council released Thursday that torture and arbitrary detention is widespread in Libya.
About 6,400 detainees are held in 26 official prisons but “thousands of others” are being held in facilities with little government control or “directly run by armed groups,” said the report.
“I remain deeply concerned about widespread human rights violations and abuses committed in the context of detention and the prolonged arbitrary detention of thousands of men, women and children without due process,” wrote Guterres.
The government must protect detainees against torture and “all prisons must be under effective government control and free of any influence or interference of armed groups,” he added. Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi that has seen a bitter rivalry emerge between two governments scrambling for control in the oil-rich north African country.
AFP
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging the Libyan government to bring all prisons under its control and free from the grip of militias, some of whom run migrant-smuggling networks.
Guterres said in a report to the Security Council released Thursday that torture and arbitrary detention is widespread in Libya.
About 6,400 detainees are held in 26 official prisons but “thousands of others” are being held in facilities with little government control or “directly run by armed groups,” said the report.
“I remain deeply concerned about widespread human rights violations and abuses committed in the context of detention and the prolonged arbitrary detention of thousands of men, women and children without due process,” wrote Guterres.
The government must protect detainees against torture and “all prisons must be under effective government control and free of any influence or interference of armed groups,” he added. Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi that has seen a bitter rivalry emerge between two governments scrambling for control in the oil-rich north African country.
