A/HRC/28/51 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 25/37 of 28 March 2014. It was prepared in cooperation with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The figures in the report are best estimates based on information received from members of the United Nations Country Team in Libya and other sources. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) continues to provide support to the human rights mandate of UNSMIL. The Director of UNSMIL Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Division represents the High Commissioner in Libya. II. Background 2. Since the High Commissioner’s last report to Council (A/HRC/25/42), the human rights and humanitarian situation in Libya has deteriorated amidst escalating violence and an increasingly volatile political environment. In March 2014, following controversy over the expiry date of the term of the parliament — the General National Congress —, an agreement was reached to amend the Constitutional Declaration to hold national elections on 25 June to create a new parliament — the House of Representatives. The House was to convene in Benghazi in accordance with the amended Constitutional Declaration, but in the light of the security situation, its first meeting was convened in Tobruk on 4 August 2014, and has remained there since. In February 2014, separate nation-wide elections were held for a Constitution Drafting Assembly, which was established in the town of Al-Baida and held its first meeting on 21 April. 3. In mid-May 2014, in Benghazi, General Khalifa Haftar launched Operation Dignity (karama) against the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, an alliance comprising Ansar al-Shari’a, Libya Shield units and other armed groups. Fierce fighting has continued since then. The Shura Council initially gained control of most of the city. Fighting in Benghazi intensified in mid-October 2014, following a renewed offensive by General Haftar’s forces — the Libya National Army —, which appeared to have gained control of sizeable areas of Benghazi by December 2014. 4. Tripoli witnessed six consecutive weeks of heavy fighting from mid-July 2014, when an alliance of armed groups, primarily from Misrata, but also from other towns, including Al-Zawiya and Gheryan, and Tripoli-based armed groups launched Operation Libya Dawn (fajr Libya) against the Zintan-affiliated Al-Qa’qa’ and Al-Sawai’q armed groups allied with fighters from the Warshafana region, west of Tripoli. The fighting was particularly intense around Tripoli International Airport, but affected other large areas of Tripoli. On 24 August 2014, Libya Dawn fighters seized control of the airport and other areas of Tripoli from Zintan-affiliated armed groups, which withdrew from the city. Libya Dawn operations were extended to the Warshafana region until Libya Dawn gained control over the region. Fighting then broke out in the Nafusa Mountains when Zintan-affiliated armed groups attacked the towns of Kikla and Al-Qala’a. At the time of writing, intermittent fighting was ongoing in the Nafusa Mountains and air strikes against Mitiga Airport and other areas in the west of the country had been carried out by the air force aligned with General Haftar. 5. Sporadic fighting also erupted throughout the year in southern Libya around the towns of Sabha, Kufra and Awbari, involving Arab, Tabu and Tuareg armed groups, many allied with either the Dignity or Libya Dawn camps. 3