On Saturday, the Libyan Attorney General’s Office announced the arrest of a man who kidnapped a woman and her three children in Tripoli.
In a statement, the office said that the kidnapper confessed to the crime, in order to force her relatives to pay a debt owed by her husband.
It added that this came as a direct order from Attorney General, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour to intensify efforts and analyze all available data; especially related to the activity and tracking of the suspect.
The Public Prosecution’s Office noted that they managed to determine the location of the woman and children and arrest the perpetrator. This was in coordination with the Tajoura Security Directorate, and the Criminal Investigation Office in the region.
Libyan security services referred the defendant to the competent authorities, in order to complete all legal procedures.
Tripoli ranked 50th in the world, in the Crime Index classification for cities, and second in the Arab world, with Damascus coming first. Tripoli received 64.27 degrees on the crime index, a high crime level.
The Crime Prevalence Index aims to assess the general level of crime in 135 countries around the world. The crime index is based on several criteria; such as murder, robbery, and rape.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said it has documented a number of cases of illegal arrests and detention, enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings of civilians, officials, journalists, civil society members, and human rights activists in Tripoli during 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,” UNSMIL has said.
Libya has been mired in conflict since former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. Plagued by divisions between competing institutions in the east and west, Libya remains split between rival forces, with two opposing executives in place since February.