The United National Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) expressed its solidarity with the “countless victims of enforced disappearances and missing persons in Libya.”
On the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the UN Mission called on relevant authorities to address this crisis as part of a rights-based national reconciliation process. “Families have the right to know the fate of their loved ones, and the right justice.”
“UNSMIL has documented disappearances of perceived political opponents, politically active women and men, human rights defenders, members of parliament, lawyers, and judges. As well as migrants and asylum-seekers,” it said in a statement.
“Over the years, the whereabouts of thousands of women, men, and children remain unknown. Others have been illegally detained and later released while the dead bodies of other missing and disappeared persons have been found in locations throughout Libya, including in mass graves. The Mission reiterates that the enforced disappearance of any person, even if they are released, is a serious violation of international human rights and humanitarian law and may amount to crimes against humanity,” it added.
“Any enforced disappearance puts the victim in an extremely vulnerable position, outside the protection of the law. In many cases documented by UNSMIL, enforced disappearances take place with other grievous human rights abuses, including torture, sexual violence, and extrajudicial executions,” the statement noted.
The UN mission noted that the lack of truth and justice for the missing persons remains a serious human rights concern. All cases of enforced disappearances must be investigated, and perpetrators brought to justice.
As impunity for enforced disappearances prevails in Libya, UNSMIL called on the Libyan authorities to adopt the 2010 ‘International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance’ as an indication of its commitment to address these widespread violations.
It further stressed the need to develop a national comprehensive strategy, involving victims’ groups and human rights organisations, to address this scourge.
“Such a strategy should include measures to identify and close all illegal detention facilities. As well as a national mechanism to respond to and prevent such disappearances and provide redress to victims and their families,” UNSMIL stated.