Fri 12 June 2020:
The UN expressed “horror” after at least eight mass graves were discovered in an area retaken by the country’s internationally recognised government from renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces.
“International law requires that the authorities conduct prompt, effective and transparent investigations,” said the UN mission.
1/3 UNSMIL notes with horror reports on the discovery of at least eight mass graves in past days, the majority of them in Tarhuna. International law requires that the authorities conduct prompt, effective & transparent investigations into all alleged cases of unlawful deaths. pic.twitter.com/cQY7dTNhzI
— UNSMIL (@UNSMILibya) June 11, 2020
The graves were found after the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) retook control of Tarhuna when military general-turned-warlord Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) withdrew from the region.
About 160 bodies found were transferred from Tarhuna’s public hospital to Tripoli and Misrata, the director of Tarhuna’s hospital told news agency AFP. However, the GNA has not yet reported the official number of bodies found.
The GNA said the Justice Ministry had set up a committee to investigate the graves and identify victims.
Reports of atrocities
In March, UNSMIL said it received reports of hundreds of enforced disappearances, torture, killings and displacement of entire families in Tarhuna by forces loyal to Haftar.
Among the victims were “private individuals, state officials, captured fighters and civil society activists”, according to the mission.
UNSMIL said it also verified numerous summary executions at Tarhuna prison on September 13.
Toby Cadman, an international human rights lawyer, told Al Jazeera that based on the reported conditions of the dead, including reports some may have had their hands tied behind their backs, the newly discovered graves appeared to be evidence of war crimes.
“Of course, they will need to be an investigation to identify the cause of death,” he said.
Human Rights Watch Libya senior researcher Hanan Salah said the GNA should invite neutral international forensic experts to help preserve possible evidence of crimes and identify the remains.
“We urge the GNA to follow through with their promise to investigate apparent mass graves in a speedy and transparent manner,” she said.
Libya, a major oil producer, has been mired in turmoil since 2011, when longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed uprising.
It is now split between two rival administrations: the GNA in Tripoli and the eastern-based House of Representatives allied with Haftar.
The GNA is backed by Turkey while Haftar’s Libyan National Army is supported by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia.
In recent weeks, the GNA, with the support of Turkey, has made major military gains, forcing Haftar’s forces to retreat.
The GNA has since launched a military operation to take the central coastal city of Sirte and al-Jufra further south.
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