The Second report of the UN fact-finding mission to Libya undiscovered general abuses against migrants and activists in the country. The UN opened an investigation to gather evidence from the mass graves allegations.
The organization has collected data on Human Rights violations in Libya detention centers. The investigators are trying to verify the existence of mass graves that allegedly hold bodies of migrants resulting from the trafficking hub. The organization’s second report on the matter was issued on Tuesday, where the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (FFM) stated there is a solid belief that secret detention centers violate international human rights and humanitarian law.
“We have uncovered further evidence that the human rights violations experienced by detainees in Libya are widespread, systematic or both,” said FFM chair Mohamed Auajjar. The 18-page UN report is expected to be passed to Geneva’s Human Rights Council on Wednesday.
The document refers to violations such as intimidation and harassment of activists, attacks on the judiciary, and abuse towards vulnerable groups, including migrants and women. The organization has exposed its intentions to find some witness accounts of “mass graves” in the desert city of Bani Walid.
According to Younis al-Azozi, the mayor of Bani Walid, there had been abuses of migrants during past years, but he added that the situation has changed in recent years. “We deny what was stated in the report … No group or organization has visited the city for a long time and we do not know from where this group got its information,” Younis al-Azozi said.
Based on about 120 interviews between October and March, the UN’s second of three reports revealed grave violations against migrant women occurring in the city where the mass grave is alleged to be. “If migrants … heard the word Bani Walid, she or he would start crying. They set fire to and burn women’s breasts and vaginas there,” said a female migrant to investigators.
