A/HRC/34/42
agreement for the evacuation of all civilians, as well as wounded combatants, from
Ganfouda, Benghazi.
34.
UNSMIL/OHCHR refers individual cases of concern, where possible, to the
appropriate organizations. It regularly receives requests for medical care for civilian victims
of indiscriminate attacks and victims of human rights violations and abuses, and seeks
accessible programmes that could provide the nature and level of support needed.
IV. Groups in focus
A.
Women
35.
While Libya has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and other international instruments that prohibit
discrimination on the basis of sex, significant discrimination against women in both law
and practice continues to have a serious impact on the rights of women in Libya. Following
intimidation and attacks in 2014 and 2015, several women activists were forced to leave the
country or adopt a low profile. In 2016, UNSMIL/OHCHR received continuing reports of
women activists in exile receiving threats. On 25 September, an armed group that operates
in Al-Fernaj, Tripoli, abducted and tortured a blogger, accusing him of being “liberal” and
writing in support of women’s rights on the Internet. Relatives are now unable to locate
him.
36.
Women in detention and migrant women are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse
and other forms of violence. Women held in detention centres run by armed groups across
the country are commonly guarded by men, who have full access to their cells. According
to credible information received by UNSMIL/OHCHR, migrant women who travel through
Libya using smuggling routes and those who are in official and unofficial migrant detention
centres are targeted for rape. Migrant women who had been detained described how they
were taken away by armed men from cells shared with others and repeatedly raped over a
number of days.
37.
Women migrants held by groups pledging allegiance to ISIL were “handed over” to
individual fighters and repeatedly raped. If they sought to resist they were beaten and tied
up. Those that tried to escape were also beaten and denied food and/or water for up to two
days.
38.
Libyan women face discrimination in matters such as travel restrictions, as a result
of armed groups requiring them to travel with a male guardian in some areas, and do not
have the right to pass on their nationality to their children or spouse. Civil society groups
have lobbied for the draft constitution to address these issues. On 8 September, the
Presidency Council established a women’s support and empowerment unit, pursuant to the
Political Agreement.
B.
Children
39.
Libya has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional
protocols. The Convention requires States to protect and ensure the care of children
affected by armed conflict. As described in section III above, children have been killed
during hostilities by heavy weapons used in residential areas, crossfire, explosive remnants
of war and mines.
40.
UNSMIL/OHCHR continued to receive reports of the abduction of children in 2016.
Four children from the Shershari family, who were abducted on 2 December 2015 by
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