A/HRC/17/44 subjecting migrant workers to human rights violations including arbitrary arrest, physical attacks and other ill-treatment, which require further investigation. In many locations there have been reports of attacks by unaffiliated armed civilians. The failure of authorities to protect migrant workers from such attacks raises separate issues of responsibility. Further investigation is required on the reports received by the Commission of extrajudicial killings of migrant workers. J. Sexual violence 1. Introduction 202. Reports of rape committed by Government forces have been recounted by numerous persons with whom the Commission met. The Commission had the opportunity to speak with only one victim of rape, Iman al-Obeidi whose case of gang-rape by Government forces has been well-publicized by the media. Allegations of rape committed by armed opposition forces and armed civilians were made to the Commission by other persons, including in some cases, family members. The number of cases reported was small. However, the Commission recognizes the difficulties in collecting evidence in cases of sexual violence, including a victim‟s reluctance to disclose information due to the trauma, shame176 and stigma linked to reports of sexual assault. In Libya, the fact that Libyan criminal law punishes by flogging sexual relations outside a lawful marriage 177 also increases the reluctance of victims to report sexual violence. These factors thus need to be taken into account in evaluating the information received. 2. Applicable law 203. Rape violates the prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and also impairs other human rights including the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health under the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It is also expressly prohibited in armed conflict, with Protocol II prohibiting “rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault” (art. 4, para. 2 (e)). Common article 3 to the Geneva Conventions also covers the conduct through its prohibition of “violence to life and person, in particular … cruel treatment and torture” and “outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment”. Rape constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute (art. 8, para. 2 (e) (vi))178 as well as potentially constituting a crime against humanity if it is part of a widespread or systematic attack on civilians (art. 7, para. 1 (g), of the Statute). The Security Council has urged parties to armed conflict to protect women and children from sexual violence. Its resolution 1325 (2000) calls on all parties to the conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from rape and others forms of sexual abuse and its resolution 1820 (2008) stresses that “sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a tactic of war in order to deliberately target civilians or as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian populations, can significantly exacerbate situations of armed conflict”. 176 177 178 58 Rape in a conservative and religious society, such as Libya is considered an affront to family honour. Article 2 of Law No. 70 of 1973 provides for the flogging penalty of 100 lashes for adultery (or zina) which is defined as sexual intercourse of a man and a women who are not bound to each other by marriage (art. 1 of Law No. 70 of 1973). The Rome Statute was the first international criminal law treaty to explicitly include rape as a “war crime” though it had been recognized as a matter of customary international law and in jurisprudence relating to the ad hoc tribunals.