Libya – Human Rights Priority Country
Updated 8 February 2017
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Libya
Overall, the human rights situation worsened during 2015. Reports by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, documented that armed groups on all sides disregarded civilians and committed violations and abuses of human rights, including abductions, extra-judicial executions, unlawful killings, torture, and other ill-treatment.
In most of the country, the judicial system broke down. There were frequent reports of intimidation, detentions, and assassinations of journalists and human rights defenders. Street-fighting in Benghazi resulted in hundreds of casualties, including civilians. In the south, hundreds were killed in tribal clashes. Daesh committed atrocities including bomb attacks; beheading Egyptian, Ethiopian and Eritrean Coptic Christians; and executing local residents and Salafist Imams in territory under their control. In May, the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Mrs Fatou Bensouda, reaffirmed to the UN Security Council its continued jurisdiction over Rome Statute crimes in Libya, including those committed by Daesh. There were grave concerns over abuse of migrants by militia groups as they attempted to transit Libya.
The political and security crisis made it difficult to make substantive progress on the ground. The UK proactively supported the Libyan political dialogue, facilitated by the UN, to end the conflict and establish a unified Government of National Accord (GNA). The UK and UNSMIL co-chaired an international meeting in London on 19 October to agree the most effective ways to support a new GNA. The UK welcomed local peace initiatives, including ceasefires, prisoner exchanges, and the return of internally displaced persons.
The UK co-sponsored an African Group resolution at the 28th UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, adopted with overwhelming support on 27 March 2015. It established an OHCHR mission to investigate violations and abuses with a view to ensuring accountability. In her closing statement at the HRC, FCO Minister for Human Rights, Baroness Anelay, highlighted the serious human rights situation, and the urgent need for a political resolution. While the Libyan delegation engaged constructively with the Universal Periodic Review at the HRC in September, the UK noted with concern the limited capacity for investigating human rights violations and bringing perpetrators to justice.
The UK welcomed the signing on 17 December 2015 of the Libyan Political Agreement in Skhirat, Morocco, for the establishment of a GNA. In 2016, we will continue to play an active role and encourage the Libyan parties to implement the agreement in full and ensure that, as Libyan state authority is re-established across national territory, respect for human rights is considered as an important part of re-building governance. We have re-focused our support to Libya on political participation programmes, including providing expert advice to the Constitutional Drafting Assembly; supporting various women’s civil society organisations to advocate for women’s rights in the constitution drafting process; and supporting civil society organisations involved in transitional justice issues in Libya, including the mapping of human rights abuses.