A joint delegation from the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Tarhuna on 30 August to present to the local community the findings and recommendations of a new report documenting serious human rights violations that occurred in the area between 2013 and 2022, including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, sexual assault, arbitrary arrests and forced displacement.
The delegation was led by Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Georgette Gagnon alongside Suki Nagra, the Representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Libya. The visit also marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
“The purpose of this report is to make sure that what happened continues to be in the spotlight, to help advocate for truth, reparations, and accountability both at the national and international levels,” Gagnon said, addressing a crowd of several dozen people, comprised of municipal authorities, tribal elders, civil society actors, victims and their families, gathered at Tarhuna University.
The report, based on three years of investigations and more than 50 interviews, sheds light on patterns of human rights violations perpetrated by the al-Kaniyat armed formation that controlled the city, which an Independent Fact-Finding Mission mandated by the Human Rights Council determined to constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report analyzes in depth the alliances and support to Al-Kaniyat over the years, when it was, at various points, aligned with both the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Since they were first discovered in 2020, national forensic authorities have been working to excavate mass graves and identify human remains, giving families the opportunity to know the fate of their loved ones and give them a dignified burial. While hundreds of bodies have been identified, countless families are still waiting to learn the truth about the missing, and several mass graves around the city are yet to be excavated.
Excavation efforts led by the General Authority for the Search and Identification of Missing Persons have stopped in the past month due to lack of resources and security concerns, according to the President of the Tarhuna Families of Victims Association. The fact that many of the alleged perpetrators have either been killed or escaped accountability by fleeing to other countries is a major obstacle to justice and truth-seeking efforts.
“We want the perpetrators to face justice here in Tarhuna,” said the city’s mayor. “They are the ones who know where the bodies are, and who can tell us where to start digging.”
Prior to the meeting, the UN delegation visited one of these mass grave sites as well as the “Box Prison”, where dozens of detainees were kept in cells of less than one-metre square.
“Sometimes, they piled hot ashes on top to generate heat and torture individuals detained inside the ‘box’,” said one former detainee who accompanied the delegation. He was held for 46 days before the GNA liberated the city and he was able to escape.
These conditions of detention are identified as a form of torture and ill-treatment in the report. Clothing worn by former detainees, some blood-stained, as well as women’s and children’s shoes, can still be seen outside the illegal prison.
“Four years after the discovery of the mass graves, justice for the victims remains elusive,” Nagra said at the University. “We have to ensure that Libya’s leaders, especially the decision and policy makers, are aware that these issues are not going away. Accountability for alleged perpetrators has to be at the centre of their efforts.”
The report recommends a comprehensive transitional justice and reconciliation process with meaningful truth-seeking measures and effective reparations for victims, including legal aid and mental health services, Nagra said. These measures should apply to all victims, no matter when the crime was perpetrated, and regardless of the alleged perpetrator.
Nagra also called on Libyan authorities to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
“We are still looking for our sons,” said one woman who had lost her seven sons and four brothers. “We ask God to bring us back our rights,” she added, stressing the financial burdens she endures due to the loss of the family’s breadwinners.
Community members took the podium one by one, sharing their testimony of crimes and demanding justice. The grief and anger in the room was palpable.
Nagra stressed that the ultimate responsibility – and the prerogative for justice lies with the Libyan state.
“We can document, we can advocate, we can echo your voice. However, it’s the Libyan authorities’ role to arrest perpetrators and to make sure they have a trial that is in line with international fair trial standards,” she said. “The UN stands ready to continue providing support to ensure that justice is done.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).