A/HRC/31/47
23.
The south has not been spared. In one case investigated by OHCHR, in December
2014, two Tabu children were seriously injured when a shell struck their house in Al-Daisa,
a neighbourhood east of Awbari. As in other similar cases, no hostilities were reported in
the neighbourhood at the time, nor is OHCHR aware of any military objectives being
pursued at that location.
24.
The conflict witnessed attacks against or otherwise with an impact on other persons
and objects given protection under international humanitarian law, including health
facilities, ambulances, medical personnel and humanitarian workers. Attacks were
documented, for instance, against the Tripoli Medical Centre by the “Al-Tajeen Brigade”,
an armed group affiliated with Libya Dawn and against the Al-Zawiya hospital by
Warshafana armed groups. Shelling struck other facilities, including the Al-Zahraa City
hospital. Reports were also received of attacks against ambulances marked with the
distinctive Red Crescent symbol in the area around Al-Kufra by Brigade 448. OHCHR
documented cases of abduction and hostage-taking of humanitarian workers by members of
an Al-Magarha armed group in the south.
25.
Private property was appropriated, looted and deliberately destroyed in conflict
areas. OHCHR investigated four cases in Benghazi in which individuals of western origin
had their property taken or destroyed by armed groups affiliated with Operation Dignity,
including the Awliaa al-Damm armed group. Similar reports were received relating to
groups affiliated with Libya Dawn in the Warshafana area. Reports were also received of
the appropriation and destruction of property by groups pledging allegiance to ISIL.
C.
Arbitrary detention, abductions and disappearances
26.
It is estimated that more than 9,000 people are currently detained in facilities
operated by the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Combating Illegal Migration of
the Ministry of the Interior.4 This figure does not include the significant number of people
detained elsewhere, such as in other facilities operated by the Ministry of the Interior, the
Ministry of Defence and/or those operated by armed groups. 5
27.
OHCHR interviewed former detainees who had been arbitrarily detained. Few of
those arrested were charged with any criminal offence. Some were unaware of the reasons
for their arrest or detention. Virtually none had access to rights of due process and most
were denied other rights, such as contact with their families. One example related to a 54year-old man detained in and around Benghazi in May 2014 by the Libyan National Army
aligned with Operation Dignity, reportedly because he was from Derna, and thus presumed
to be associated with ISIL.
28.
Given the limited functioning of courts, there is little recourse to judicial review of
the legality of detentions. Even when recourse is available, court orders for release have not
always been effective. In one case investigated by OHCHR, in January 2014, a judge
4
5
According to the judicial police, as at March 2014, some 6,200 people (including 80 to 90 women and
10 children) were being held in facilities run by the Ministry of Justice, while the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and IOM estimated that, as at May 2015, 3,245
people (329 women and 34 children) were being held in facilities operated by the Department for
Combating Illegal Migration.
In the present report, the term “detention” is intended to reflect deprivation of liberty by both State
officials and armed groups, given that armed groups remain in control of many facilities and that
many armed groups were theoretically brought under the purview of government ministries during the
integration processes carried out after 2011.
7
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