from AHMED ZAYED in Tripoli, Libya
Libya Bureau
TRIPOLI, (CAJ News) – THE United Nations human rights top envoy has called for the sealing of detention facilities in Libya amid revelations of gross human rights violations uncovered at these facilities.
Volker Türk, UN Human Rights Chief, also demanded prompt, independent, impartial and transparent investigations by the Libyan authorities.
The sites were found after the killing of Abdul Ghani al-Kikli, the Stabilization Support Apparatus’ (SSA’s) leader, last month.
Türk said the discoveries confirmed the longstanding findings by the UN Support Mission in Libya and the former UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission, as well as various witness accounts, regarding the existence of such sites and the extent of violations committed.
“Our worst held fears are being confirmed,” he said.
“Dozens of bodies have been discovered at these sites, along with the discovery of suspected instruments of torture and abuse, and potential evidence of extrajudicial killings.”
Türk said he was troubled by reports that Libya’s forensic authorities mandated to exhume and identify human remains had yet to be granted access to excavate the sites.
Between May 18-21 , the UN Human Rights Office received information on the excavation of ten charred bodies at the SSA headquarters in Abu Salim, along with the discovery of a total of 67 bodies in refrigerators at the Abu Salim and Al Khadra hospitals.
Some of the remains are said to be in an advanced state of decomposition due to power outages in the hospital. The identities of the bodies were not immediately clear. A burial site was also reportedly discovered at the SSA-run Tripoli Zoo.
The oil-rich North African country has been unstable since 2011 when President Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and murdered by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sponsored rebels.
– CAJ News