A/HRC/17/44 force, cuffed and severely beaten before being killed. 171 One Chadian woman reported having been raped by armed civilians in Benghazi on 26 February. 172 5. Violations committed by Government forces 198. A smaller number of attacks were reported as having taken place at the hands of Government forces. The current conflict appears to have exacerbated pre-existing discriminatory attitudes within the society. Reports of the ill-treatment include one case of arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of a Nigerian national by Government forces in Misalata (Arba Area).173 The enforced disappearance of his wife in the same incident was reported. The incident allegedly occurred on 30 March when heavily armed Government forces violently entered the victim‟s house, smashing him to the ground and beating him. He reported that he was handcuffed, blindfolded and taken in a military car to a place of detention. Another case concerned attacks by Government forces in Tripoli, including one case of a Sudanese man having been beaten by the Katiba of Saif al-Islam when they entered the camp of Sudanese and Egyptian workers in Tripoli. 174 One Palestinian source from Az-Zawiyah reported ill-treatment of migrant workers following a speech by Saif alIslam Qadhafi calling them “traitors”. However, overall, it is not clear to the Commission whether attacks by Government forces were motivated by race or by perception of political allegiance with the opposition forces. 199. The Commission received a range of information regarding abuses suffered by subSaharan Africans at the hands of civilians without apparent affiliation to one of the parties to the conflict in areas remaining under the control of the Government. In Tripoli, for instance, the Commission was told an Eritrean national had been ill-treated and subsequently denied medical treatment in the main hospital of the capital city.175 The man reported having being attacked with arms and metal tools on 16 March by a group of civilians in the streets of Tripoli, causing a fractured leg, aggravated by the denial of medical care. 200. In the face of such threats posed, many sub-Saharan Africans have faced a particularly difficult time accessing necessities of life (such as food and water). 6. Conclusion 201. Consistent information was received by the Commission that migrant workers, in particular those from sub-Saharan Africa, were subject to mistreatment, contrary to international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Mistreatment took many forms, including having their houses subject to arbitrary search, being beaten and being subject to other cruel and inhuman treatment. The most serious attacks on migrant workers appear to have been linked to a suspicion that such persons were “mercenaries” on the basis of their national origin or skin colour. Attacks were most frequently undertaken by persons associated with the opposition forces. There have also been cases of Government forces 171 172 173 174 175 The witness was able to escape, suffered from post-traumatic stress and was transferred to psychiatric care in Marsa Matruh, Egypt. No further details on the circumstances of the report incident were documented. The case is addressed in paragraph 208 of the present report. The witness mentioned having being in different detention places in Ziniti and Tripoli for seven days and alleged ill-treatment. In the first incident, the victim reported that he was stabbed in the right leg when he was walking in the streets of Tripoli on 25 February 2011. In the second case, the victim alleged being beaten on 22 February 2011 by the Katiba of Saif al-Islam when they entered the camp of Sudanese and Egyptian workers in Tripoli. It was reported that medical care had been denied because of discrimination based on nationality. 57