A/HRC/19/68 II. Background 10. It is not possible to understand the current conditions in Libya without understanding the damage to the fabric of society caused by decades of corruption, serious human rights violations and sustained repression of any opposition.2 11. In the present report, the Commission focuses on alleged violations committed by all parties. Given the shift in power, a significant amount of the present report focuses on abuses by those who rose up against the Government of Muammar Qadhafi. While major abuses are still occurring, the difference between the past and the present is that those responsible for abuses now are not part of a system of brutality sanctioned by the central Government. The Commission is cognizant of the challenges facing the new Libyan leadership in rebuilding a country left by the Qadhafi Government devoid of independent institutions, a civil society, political parties and a judiciary able to provide justice and redress. 12. Few officials spoken to by the Commission demonstrated any real understanding of basic legal and human rights standards. Most existing prisons do not meet basic standards. Prison guards and police exhibited little concept of prisoners’ rights. Judges, prosecutors, the judicial police and others involved in the administration of justice and detention centres require training in human rights standards. Existing Libyan laws will need to be repealed or amended. The judicial system is not functioning effectively and suffers from the legacy of being used as a tool of repression. The vast majority of detainees are still held outside the legal framework, despite efforts to centralize detentions. 13. Some senior Government officials expressed their commitment to human rights. They failed, however, to publicly condemn violations taking place since the fall of the Qadhafi Government. In meetings with the Commission, Government officials emphasized the precariousness of the security situation, the weakness of the national police and judicial police forces and the inability of the central authorities to enforce the rule of law. The Commission acknowledges these difficulties, and welcomes the Government’s plans to disarm militias and to integrate fighters into the national army or the police force. A law on transitional justice and a law on amnesty were recently adopted.3 Delays in the administration of justice, however, increase the risk of individual victims or their family members taking the law into their own hands. 14. The Commission gathered information on the military forces and structures of the Qadhafi Government and the thuwar.4 In many instances, the Commission was able to assign responsibility to specific individuals. In most cases, the commission withheld the names of individuals believed to hold responsibility for violations, partly to prevent reprisals and partly to avoid prejudicing future fair trials. The Commission will, however, provide a list of such individuals to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2 3 4 See A/HRC/19/CRP.1. Ibid., chap. V. See ibid., chap. II for a better understanding of the conflict and to identify the specific units involved in violations. 5