The ICJ today called on UN Member States to ensure support for the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (FFM) and called on this Council to renew its mandate.
United Nations Human Rights Council member states, including Libya, should continue to support the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya by renewing its mandate during its 48th session, which began on September 13, 2021, seven human rights organizations said today.
Today, on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we the 33 undersigned local, regional, and international organizations, associations, and networks come together to highlight the dramatic and persistent nature of enforced disappearances in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the accompanying impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of these crimes throughout the region.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) joined several human rights organizations in signing the following letter, urging state representatives at the Human Rights Council to ensure the extension of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Libya’s mandate.
The Second Berlin Conference on Libya, taking place on 23 June, should focus on ensuring accountability for crimes under international law and guaranteeing that the transitional justice process is fully consistent with international law and standards as its key priorities, the ICJ said today.
هذا البيان الصحفي متوفر باللغة العربية أيضاً
“The Berlin II Conference must bring accountability to the top of the political agenda in Libya”, said Saïd Bernarbia, the ICJ MENA Director.
“The necessity to hold the 24 December elections cannot sideline the need for the Libyan authorities to hold perpetrators of crimes under international law to account and to end impunity for past and ongoing human rights abuses. Time and again experience from around the world has shown that accountability is crucial for a sustainable political solution.”
The 19 January 2020 Berlin Conference Conclusions stressed “the need to hold accountable all those who have violated provisions of international law”, and encouraged the Libyan authorities to strengthen “transitional justice institutions, including prosecution initiatives, reparations, truth-seeking and institutional reform.” A dedicated Working Group on human rights and international humanitarian law was created to implement such conclusions.
The Berlin II Conference must follow up on these commitments and give priority to ensuring that crimes under international law committed by all parties in Libya be effectively investigated with a view to holding perpetrators to account.
“The transitional justice process must be prioritized with a view to establishing the truth about past and ongoing gross human rights violations and abuses, upholding victims’ right to remedies and reparations, including by providing guarantees of non-repetition”, Benarbia said.
The Berlin II Conference should also support the work and mandate the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya established by the Human Rights Council in June 2020.
Download this press release in PDF form here.
Contact
Said Benarbia, Director, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41-22-979-3817; e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Asser Khattab, Research and Communications Officer, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, e: asser.khattab(a)icj.org
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