Since 2016, extrajudicial killings, rape, torture and slavery have taken place in Libya. Those responsible include the Libyan coast guard, funded by Italy. Since 2016, extrajudicial killings, rape, torture and slavery have taken place in Libya. Those responsible include the Libyan coast guard, funded by Italy.
In Libya, war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed from 2016 to the present day. This is what emerges from a new independent inquiry commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which reveals how over the past five years the country has seen extrajudicial killings, rape, torture and enslavement. All the actors involved in the conflict that has gripped the country for years have come under scrutiny: state authorities, third-party countries present on the ground, and mercenaries.
In 2020 the UN established an independent commission of inquiry to shed light on what has happened in Libya in recent years, following a succession of alarming reports on the state of human rights.
The country has been in a state of chaos since 2011, following the death of Colonel Gaddafi. Elections were held in 2012 and 2014, which fragmented the country into many pieces and placed it in the hands of two rival governments in Tripoli and Tobruk, leaving ample room for armed militias and criminal groups. Years of civil war came to an end with the installation of a new government of national unity last March, pending elections scheduled for this coming December. But fighting continues on the ground and Libya remains mired in chaos and fragility.
Against this backdrop, the UN commission has revealed a large-scale system of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Displaced civilians, migrants and women have been the main victims of these abuses, identified through a lengthy process of interviews, review of materials and analysis of images, including satellite imagery. Specifically, the report describes systematic rape, torture and humiliation in prisons and migrant detention centres, and street violence against civilians as a simple exercise of authority. Those responsible for all of this are said to include both mercenaries from outside the country and foreign states and companies, as well as the Libyan authorities themselves. The latter are also said to have obstructed the work of the UN Commission, by slowing down bureaucratic visa procedures and hindering movement within the country.
Among the most harrowing chapters of the inquiry is the case of the city of Tarhuna, located south-east of Tripoli. Between 2016 and 2020, "atrocious crimes" were committed here, most likely by the al-Kaniyat militia, which had taken control of the area and become notorious for its brutal methods. As early as last year, Libyan sources had accused these actors of crimes against humanity and genocide, an allegation that was confirmed by subsequent reports in the months that followed.
Between June 2020 and last January, at least 300 bodies were found in the rural area surrounding the city, a toll that has continued to rise in recent months with new discoveries of mass graves. The latest came just in the past few hours, with ten unidentified bodies unearthed at two separate sites within the grounds of the Kilometre 5 agricultural project.
The UN commission also devotes a section of its report to the Libyan coast guard, a body that has been under international scrutiny for years on account of its practices. The report speaks of 87,000 migrants intercepted by this maritime military force in the Mediterranean, and of systematic mistreatment of these individuals, who are often subsequently sent to detention centres known for the practice of torture and rape.
Yet another confirmation of the shadows hanging over the Libyan maritime body, after years in which dozens of reports, journalistic investigations and videos have documented its brutal methods, which include firing on boats. A situation made all the more alarming by the fact that the coast guard is directly funded by the European Union and by Italy, with Parliament having confirmed the cooperation last July with 361 votes in favour, 54 against and 22 abstentions, along with a budget increase.
