During its 50th session on Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) extended the term of the Libyan Fact-Finding Mission (FFM).
A resolution on technical support and capacity building to enhance human rights in Libya was accepted by the council without a vote. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), this resolution calls for the FFM to be extended for “a final, non-extendable period of nine months to present its concluding recommendations”
The Netherlands, a member of the Libyan Human Rights Working Group, applauded the Libyan government for “their collaboration with the Mission” and welcomed the FFM’s continuation.
The Dutch Mission to the United Nations (UN) tweeted, “the FFM’s work is crucial on the road to enduring peace, justice, and accountability for Libya.”
Last month, 18 human rights organisations called on the UNHRC to support the renewal of the UN FFM mandate on Libya, “as a matter of urgency, at the upcoming 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).”
In a letter sent to the UN Security Council, the organizations welcomed the establishment of the FFM through resolution 43/39, in June 2020.
They said that the mission “aimed to investigate violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law throughout Libya, by all parties since the beginning of 2016.”
In October 2021, the UNHRC renewed the FFM’s mandate for a period of nine months, until the end of June 2022. It is scheduled to present its comprehensive report to the HRC on the 6th of July 2022.
To date, the investigatory work of the FFM has proven vital in establishing facts related to violations of international human rights law, and international humanitarian law committed in Libya since 2016.
However, the work of the FFM is far from complete. Its renewal is “imperative to continue investigating ongoing crimes and violations, shed light on the human rights situation, and to send a strong message that the prevailing environment of impunity can no longer be tolerated.”
“Supporting pathways to accountability, including through international investigative mechanisms such as the FFM, is key to restoring the rule of law,” they noted.