A/HRC/43/75 62. Bureaucratic hurdles and the lack of cooperation of the authorities continued to severely limit the access of UNSMIL/OHCHR to detention facilities; it was thus unable to visit prisons under the control of the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Police in the east. Although the Chief of staff of the Libyan National Army instructed the military prosecutor in Benghazi to facilitate visits in accordance with formal procedures in response to advocacy by UNSMIL in early July, the latter continued to face constraints on its access to prisons. In western Libya, UNSMIL was only able to visit Jdaida, Al Jawiya and Ain Zara A prisons. Technical support 63. UNSMIL/OHCHR continued to provide advice to and advocate with the Government of National Accord, the Judicial Police and armed groups on ways to address issues relating to judicial process, including ending arbitrary detention, the transfer of detainees from unlawful places of detention to official prisons, due process rights and granting unimpeded access to human rights monitors to places of detention. 64. UNSMIL/OHCHR advocated with other United Nations entities and international organizations to screen recipients of technical assistance and capacity-building programmes organized for State authorities to ensure that those responsible for violations of human rights or violations of international humanitarian and refugee law are excluded from any support. 65. In October, UNSMIL and UNDP organized a workshop in Tunis to review the criminal justice system of Libya and to make recommendations on addressing the gaps. The workshop gathered 15 representatives from the Ministries of Justice and the Interior and the Office of the Prosecutor General. C. Transitional justice 66. Little progress was made in implementing the provisions of the Libyan Political Agreement that commits parties to enforce law No. 29 of 2013 on transitional justice. 67. On 15 December, the Tripoli Appeals Court acquitted all defendants in the Abu Salim trial case relating to the massacre of 1,200 people in 1996, including former intelligence Abdullah Senussi.14 Five defendants who were acquitted died while on trial, while other defendants were acquitted on the basis of the statute of limitations, as contained in the Penal Code. UNSMIL notes that the case is subject to further appeal by the State, which would be an important step enabling the State’s highest court to emphasisz the inapplicability under international law of statutes of limitations to gross human rights violations. 68. On 11 and 12 November, the Appeal Chamber of the International Criminal Court held a televised hearing on Saif al Islam Qadhafi’s challenge to the admissibility of his case before the Court. Representing the Government of National Accord, the Minister for Justice appeared in court, making a statement on Amnesty Law 6-2015,15 arguing that the case was indeed admissible before the Court. Following widespread reactions within the justice sector and criticism of his appearance, the Minister published a lengthy statement of his position. The Prosecutor of the Court reiterated its demand that Libya transfer Mr. Qadhafi. 69. On 25 September, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, together with the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, provided an oral update to the Human Rights Council during an interactive dialogue on Libya. Both underlined the fact that a mandate by the Council establishing an investigative mechanism 14 15 12 www.facebook.com/ObservatoryLY/videos/2647057822194273/. The Amnesty Law excludes amnesty for crimes of terrorism, rape, torture, corruption and murder by race or ethnicity, but fails to rule out amnesties for other serious human rights violations, such as forced displacement, enforced disappearance and unlawful killing.