On Monday, Switzerland condemned the violations of international humanitarian law and the abuses of human rights that continue to be perpetrated in Libya.
The Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN said the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) “has found reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Libya, including against migrants.”
“Their perpetrators must be held accountable and brought to justice. Switzerland urges the Libyan authorities to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court (ICC),” the statement said.
Bern urged the Libyan authorities to “lift all restrictions imposed on civil society, and to guarantee the rights to freedom of association, expression, and peaceful assembly.”
It also called for the implementation of the recommendations contained in the FFM’s report, as well as to cooperate with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) for this purpose.
Notably, the Fact-Finding Mission expressed its deep concerns over the country’s deteriorating human rights situation.
In its final report, the Mission stated that “there are grounds to believe a wide array of war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed by state security forces and armed militia groups.”
It noted that investigations “documented numerous cases of arbitrary detention, murder, rape, enslavement, extrajudicial killing, and enforced disappearance.” As well as noting that nearly all survivors interviewed had refrained from lodging official complaints, out of fear of reprisals, arrest, extortion, and a lack of confidence in the justice system.
“Migrants, in particular, have been targeted and there is overwhelming evidence that they have been systematically tortured. The report said there were reasonable grounds to believe that sexual slavery, a crime against humanity, was committed against migrants,” the statement added.
In turn, the Libyan Parliament expressed its dissatisfaction with the report, especially regarding the immigration and human rights situations in the country. The Chairman of the Internal Affairs Committee, MP Suleiman Al-Hariri said the report is “biased, lacks objectivity, and deliberately distorts the image of Libya. The report also holds Libya alone responsible for illegal migration flows.”