A/HRC/34/42 Shura Council. Operation Dignity forces also encircled Derna, controlling entry and exit from the city. 7. In May 2016, forces loyal to the Presidency Council, supported by airstrikes conducted by the United States of America, began operations targeting groups pledging allegiance to ISIL in Sirte. It is estimated that more than 650 fighters from the forces loyal to the Presidency Council were killed; ISIL casualties are unknown. By December, the loyalist forces had gained control over Sirte. 8. In September, the Libyan National Army seized control of the eastern oil crescent, including Ras Lanuf, Al-Sidra and Zueitina, from the Petroleum Facilities Guards armed group. Libyan National Army forces also increased their presence in southern Libya. Those developments raised concerns of a possible outbreak of conflict between armed groups loyal to General Haftar in the east and Misratan armed groups in the west who support the Presidency Council. 9. In mid-October, the former “Government of National Salvation”, which had controlled Tripoli prior to the entry of the Presidency Council in March, with the support of armed groups, took control of the Rixos hotel complex building in Tripoli, expelling the High State Council, a consultative body provided for by the Political Agreement, from its headquarters. 10. Hundreds of armed groups continue to operate throughout Libya, many nominally affiliated with the Ministries of Defence, Interior and Justice. They receive salaries from central State funds, but are not under the command and control of the State. They exercise effective control in localized areas, including over detention centres where thousands of people are detained. Action to remove law enforcement powers from armed groups, as foreseen in the Libyan Political Agreement, and demobilization, disarmament and reintegration have not yet begun. 11. OHCHR, through the UNSMIL Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Division, continues to monitor and report on the human rights situation in Libya. UNSMIL/OHCHR engages in regular dialogue with the authorities, armed groups, civil society and other relevant actors in Libya. The impact and effectiveness of technical assistance is limited by restricted access to Libya and the prevailing impunity, creating an environment of intimidation and fear, inhibiting interlocutors, including officials, civil society and victims, from sharing information and engaging on human rights. The lack of formal government counterparts, including a Minister of Justice, further limits cooperation. 12. Libya is State party to 11 core human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its first Optional Protocol; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Member of Their Families; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols. It is also a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 13. Libya is obliged to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of all persons within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, without discrimination. That includes the obligation to ensure a prompt, adequate and effective remedy to those whose rights have been violated, including the provision of reparations and guarantees of nonrecurrence, and to investigate and bring to justice perpetrators of gross violations. 14. International humanitarian law also applies to the non-international armed conflict which is continuing in Libya. Libya is a party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and 4