The United Nations (UN) Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Libya said that “many witnesses refused to interact with the mission out of fear for their safety, and we called on the Libyan authorities to ensure that everyone is free, and feels free to cooperate with the mission.”
“The main objective of our visit was to strengthen our cooperation with the Libyan authorities in the fulfillment of our mandate,” said UN FFM Head, Mohamed Aujjar.
UN FFM member, Tracy Robinson said that, “we are in a position to come to a number of important conclusions, which we will present to the Human Rights Council in October. However, full identification of the violations and abuses committed in Libya since 2016 requires much more time.”
The UN FFM on Libya concluded a 4-day visit to Tripoli on Thursday the 26th of August. During this time they held high-level talks with Libyan governmental and judicial authorities regarding the situation of human rights in Libya.
They also provided the Libyan authorities with an update on their work ahead of the submission of a report to the UN Human Rights Council in October 2021.
The UN FFM was established by the Human Rights Council in June 2020, with a mandate to investigate alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in Libya since 2016.
The members of the UN FFM are Mohamed Aujjar, the Chair, alongside Chaloka Beyani and Tracy Robinson. Due to the liquidity crisis related to the UN’s regular budget, the Secretariat supporting the work of the mission, only became fully operational in June 2021.
While in Tripoli, the UN FFM met with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Justice, as well as with the Minister of State for Displaced Persons’ Affairs and Human Rights. They also had meetings with the Director-General of Defence, the Military Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Department for Combating Illegal Immigration (DCIM).
The UN FFM also met with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Libya and other UN entities. Their visit followed an investigative mission conducted earlier in July 2021.