The section on Libya in the annual human rights report of the US State Department shed light on the various types of violations that occurred during the year 2020, and included important human rights issues such as arbitrary and unlawful killings by various armed groups, including some groups allied with the Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army.
The violations also included enforced disappearances, torture practiced by armed groups from all sides, harsh and life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention centers, some of which were outside government control, arbitrary arrest and detention, political prisoners and detainees, and unlawful interference with privacy.
The report referred to grave violations in internal conflicts, including the killing of civilians and the worst forms of child labor, such as the recruitment or use of children in the conflict, and serious restrictions on freedom of expression and the press, including violence against journalists and the criminalization of political expression, and fundamental interference with freedom of association.
It also included the forcible return of refugees and asylum seekers, widespread corruption, lack of accountability for violence against women, trafficking in persons, threats of violence against ethnic minorities and foreigners, and significant restrictions on workers’ freedom of association, including restrictions on the right to strike, and forced labor.
The report emphasized that evasion from prosecution was a serious and widespread problem, as divisions between government, political and security agencies in the west and east, the security vacuum in the south, the presence of criminal groups across the country, and the government’s weakness and limited influence outside western Libya severely impeded the government’s ability to Investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of violations in the country.
The US report pointed to numerous reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings by armed groups allied with the Government of National Accord, the National Army and other non-state actors, including foreign fighters and mercenaries, in addition to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, and the Attorney General’s office were responsible for investigating such violations and pursuing prosecutions, but they were either unable or unwilling to do so in most cases due to severe capacity constraints.
According to the report, reliable sources indicated that employees who run prisons and governmental and illegal detention centers tortured detainees, and international and Libyan human rights organizations reported that the Special Deterrence Force loyal to the Government of National Accord and the Nawasi Brigade carried out summary executions, acts of torture and other violations in official prisons and facilities. Informal questioning.
The report stated that officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity, such as graft, bribery and favoritism, and there were numerous reports of government corruption during 2020, including reports of officials’ involvement in money laundering, human smuggling and other criminal activities, while the government lacks significant mechanisms to investigate corruption between the police and security forces.
