A/HRC/43/75
shock at the incident.5 On 23 April, an armed group attacked the Qasr bin Gashir detention
centre with small arms fire as migrants were celebrating a Christian festival, injuring two
men and six boys aged between 15 and 17 years.
18.
During the period under review, the World Health Organization (WHO) documented
61 conflict-related attacks against health-care facilities and personnel, a 69 per cent increase
over the same period in 2018.6 These attacks hit 18 health facilities, 20 ambulances and 40
health personnel. On 11 October, an unidentified armed group kidnapped six doctors from
the town of Zintan, Al Marqab region. They were released on 23 October.
19.
On 18 November, an airstrike hit a biscuit factory in the Wadi Rabi’ neighbourhood
of Tripoli, killing at least seven civilian men and injuring 35 others, many of whom were
migrants. On 28 November, airstrikes in Um al-Araneb killed 13 civilians (10 children and
three women) and seriously injured nine others (six children and three women).
20.
UNSMIL/OHCHR reiterates that the killing of persons taking no active part in the
hostilities is explicitly prohibited by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and
may amount to a war crime. UNSMIL/OHCHR also recalls that States have an obligation
to investigate the use of lethal force in the context of law enforcement operations, as well as
violations of the right to life committed during armed conflicts.7 In many resolutions on noninternational armed conflict, the Security Council and the General Assembly call upon all parties to
respect international human rights law.
B.
Violations of the right to life, including unlawful killings
21.
In 2019, UNSMIL/OHCHR received multiple reports alleging that armed groups
were responsible for summary executions and other unlawful killings of civilians and
captured fighters. Between 1 January and 30 November, UNSMIL/OHCHR documented 65
civilian victims (48 deaths and 17 injured), including 56 men, three women and six boys.
22.
For instance, on 15 September, in Tarhouna, the Al-Kaniyat armed group, affiliated
to the Libyan National Army, attacked the house of a civilian and opened fire, killing 16
members of a family (11 men, two women and three children). Reports indicated that the
attack was retaliation for the celebrations relating to the death of Mohsen al Kani, a senior
leader of the Al-Kaniyat armed group. Between April and August, UNSMIL documented
the summary execution of at least 17 ex-combatants from different armed groups by
Tarhuna armed groups.
23.
Among other cases, UNSMIL/OHCHR documented an incident involving the
abduction and killing of civilians. On 17 July, in the Al Hawari neighbourhood of
Benghazi, the bodies of five civilian men were found, their hands tied with rope and with
signs of beating on their backs. They had been kidnapped from the town separately two
days earlier by an unidentified armed group from the Al-Laithy neighbourhood of
Benghazi.
24.
UNSMIL/OHCHR also documented summary executions in Benghazi. On 3
October, an unidentified armed group abducted a Sudanese woman from the market area.
Her body was found in the Al Hawari neighbourhood three days later. The body of another
Sudanese woman, who had also been abducted from the market area, on 7 October, was
5
6
7
See https://unsmil.unmissions.org/unsmil-condemns-strongest-terms-attack-tajoura-causing-dozenscivilian-fatalities-and-calls and
www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24784&LangID=E.
In 2018, WHO documented 36 conflict-related attacks targeting health-care facilities and personnel.
See the Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and
Summary Executions, paras. 9, 10 and 17.
5
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