Libya: International community should suspend cooperation with Libya pending their full compliance with international law

48th session of the Human Rights Council

Thank you.

The OMCT and the Libyan Anti-torture Network welcome the report of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya and thank its members for their update.

We are deeply concerned about the recent wave of arrests of migrants and refugees carried out by the Libyan security forces in the framework of a large-scale security campaign. Early this month, one African migrant was killed during “anti-drugs” raids, 15 others were wounded, while thousands of others were arrested. Videos, photos and testimonies show that security forces used excessive force against them.

Violations against migrants and refugees continue unabated in Libyan detention centers, where thousands of them, including many registered with UNHRC, women and children, are held in inhumane and degrading conditions and routinely subjected to torture, sexual violence and extortion.

The EU-backed Libyan Coast Guard continues to forcibly return and intercept at sea migrants and refugees attempting to cross into Europe, in violation of international refugee, human rights, and maritime law. Migrants and refugees who are returned to Libya are subjected to serious abuses, torture, and degrading treatment in State facilities and elsewhere.

We call on the international community to suspend cooperation with Libya pending their full compliance with international human rights and international humanitarian law and to work together to address irregular migration across the Mediterranean.

We call on the Government of Libya to fulfil its commitment under the Ceasefire Agreement to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights in order to achieve comprehensive national reconciliation; to respect the principle of non-refoulement; to close all migration detention facilities and release all arbitrarily detained migrants and refugees; to investigate all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment and bring perpetrators to justice and; to facilitate the resumption of evacuation flights from Libya to third countries.

I thank you.