On Tuesday, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) voiced its deep concern over the abduction and disappearance of Rida Afritis, the Chief of Staff for the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Unidentified gunmen abducted Afritis with his colleague on 2 August 2021, following his visit to GNU offices in Tripoli. The fate and whereabouts of both Afritis and his colleague remain unknown, and UNSMIL expressed concern for their safety and security.
The UN Mission also highlighted that individuals who have taken on roles in support of Libya’s democratic transition and state institutions are being targeted in this manner. It claimed that this has serious implications for the peace and reconciliation process, and for the full unification of national institutions.
UNSMIL has documented a number of cases of illegal arrests and detention, enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings of citizens, officials, journalists, civil society members, and human rights defenders in the past year.
“Under international human rights law, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained. Torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings are strictly prohibited as are abductions and kidnappings,” said Jan Kubis, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General and Head of UNSMIL.
The Mission called on the Libyan authorities to fully investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. “Libya must end the entrenched culture of impunity in the country,” Kubis stressed.