The New Law Criminalising Torture: A first step, but more is needed

Forimmediate release

April25, 2013

The New Libyan LawCriminalising Torture, Enforced Disappearances and Discrimination: A firststep, but more is needed

TheLibyan General National Congress (GNC)adopted the Law Criminalising Torture, Enforced Disappearances andDiscrimination on 9 April. Lawyers forJustice in Libya (LFJL), REDRESS,DIGNITY – Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) welcome the GNC’s initiative toprovide a legislative framework for the prohibition and criminalisation of someof the most serious crimes, including torture and enforced disappearances.However, the organisations remain concerned that the provisions of the new lawdo not fully conform with Libya’s international obligations. LFJL, REDRESS, DIGNITY, and OMCT submitted their preliminarycomments on an earlier draft of this law tothe GNC on 26 March, where they raised detailed concerns with regard to thetorture aspects of the draft legislation (a full version is available here). The organisations recognise thatthe draft has since undergone some changes resulting in the enacted version,without, however, addressing the principal concerns. Whilst the intention ofthe draft law to tackle the three categories of human rights violations wasencouraging, their inclusion in the same piece of legislation fails to reflect theirdistinct characteristics and risks confusing or oversimplifying the specificobligations they impose.

Morespecifically, the organisations are concerned that several aspects of thedefinition of torture under Article 2 of the new law are not aligned with thedefinition provided for under Article 1 of United Nations Convention AgainstTorture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), to which Libya is a StateParty. This results in a narrowing of the scope of its application, such as byrestricting torture to acts committed against detainees. It therefore fails toprovide a sound basis on which to build a comprehensive anti-torture framework.The new law also does not enshrine the prohibition of deporting, extraditing orotherwise transferring a person to a state where there are substantial groundsfor believing that he or she would be subject to torture.

Theorganisations welcome the amendments made to the draft law, particularly theremoval of “collateral sanctions” in the form of “disenfranchisement of hiscivil political rights”, but urge Libyan lawmakers to consult further withrelevant stakeholders and to consider comparative worldwide experiences whilstdrafting legislation.

LFJLDirector Elham Saudi noted, “Whilst the law is a valuable first step, thecomplexity, on-going, and endemic nature of these human rights violations meansthat there can be no quick fixes to these problems. The adopted legislation maybe ineffective in combating torture and result in uncertainties regarding itsapplicability.” She added, “Care must be taken to ensure that such legislationforms an integral part of existing laws recognising torture as a criminaloffence in the penal code. It should also be unequivocal in stipulating itslegal effect including the repeal of the amnesty granted under Article 4 of Law38 of 2012.”

LFJL,REDRESS, DIGNITY, and OMCT urge the GNC to continue its efforts towardscreating a comprehensive anti-torture framework. They recommend that the GNCaddresses the issues detailed in the formerly submitted preliminary comments,and express their readiness to engage constructively with the GNC in order toprogress these changes.

Contacts for media queries:

LFJL: MariamElhadri, Coordinating Officer / Phone: +44 (0) 20 7242 5071

Email: info@libyanjustice.org/ Languages: Arabic, English

DIGNITY: Anders Bernhoft,Head of Press / Phone: + 45 2252 8657

Email: ab@dignityinstitute.dk/ Languages: English, Danish
REDRESS: Eva Sanchis,Communications Officer / Phone: +44 (0) 20 7793 1777I

Email: eva@redress.org/ Languages: English, Spanish

OMCT: Currun Singh,MENA Advisor / Phone: +216 7132 2561 /

Email: cs@omct.org/ Languages: English, French, Arabic