Tarhuna in the jaws of war machine: Displacements, forced disappearances and extra judicial killings
- The Flood of Dignity or the Flood of Destruction of Dignity is a summary of the latest developments and developments in the situation in Libya
- Unsmil United Nations Support Mission in Libya
- A statement on the humanitarian situation in Tarhuna City - Libya
- Unsmile: an increase in kidnappings and enforced disappearances in Libya
Since Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s launching of “Flood of Dignity” military operation and the General Command forces attempt to take over Tripoli, Libyan civilians have been the ones paying dearly the price of this ongoing war which started on 4 April 2019. Violations against civilians and collective punishment, which are committed by parties to this conflict, amid the constant changes taking place in the conflict areas in Libya have become a daily routine, the most recent of which was planting bombs and landmines in civilians’ homes and civilian populated areas. This obviously does not serve or achieve any of the two military parties to the conflict in southern Tripoli goals, and it was eventually strongly condemned by the United Nations. These landmines caused the death and injury of a number of civilians while they were returning or checking out their homes.
It seems that Tarhuna city is no exception to this rule, as toady’s parties to the Libyan conflict committed a number of human rights violations in it, it is a very dangerous indication that we fear that it might turn into a dominating norm during any conflict that may occur in the future.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) expressed earlier its grave concern over the high number of kidnappings and forced disappearances committed by armed militias in Libya’s cities and towns, and over the impunity of these militias. It called all parties to respect international humanitarian law and human rights principles, and stated in a released statement that it had received hundreds of reports that included enforced disappearances, murders, torture, and forced displacement of entire families since April 2020 in Tarhuna city and that all these crimes were committed by the 9th Army Brigade “Al-Kaniyat” (Kani-Brothers). The UNSMIL stated that they have confirmed that the aforementioned brigade carried out several summary executions at Tarhuna on 13 June 2020.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya also announced that it had received several reports of looting and destruction of property in two towns, south of Tripoli that were retrieved by the Government of National Accord. It also its grave concern over reports that indicated discovering dozens of corpses at the hospital in Tarhuna although it did not hold any party responsible. The Mission also confirmed that more than 16,000 people had been displaced in Tarhuna and southern Tripoli.
The Government of National Accord forces that entered Tarhuna had discovered more than 100 bodies piled up at the city’s hospital. Activists broadcasted videos on the Internet to what appeared to be looting of supermarkets, destroying of public property and torching houses that belong to families that are known to support and have strong ties with the General Command Forces Led by Haftar.
DAAM Center condemns all form of violations and crimes that are being committed by all parties to the conflict in Tarhuna city as forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and displacement. DAAM Center recalls that these crimes constitute war crimes which are not subject to statutes of limitation, and that make their perpetrators legally pursuable domestically and internationally. At the same time, DAAM Center calls upon the ministries of interiors and their affiliated security bodies of both parties to assume their responsibility in protecting citizens from such violations. DAAM Center calls them to establish a special independent committee in cooperation with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and the Libyan civil society to monitor all violations that were committed against citizens’ and their rights and bring perpetrators to justice so that fleeing justice and impunity do not turn into a normalized norm in all the country’s conflicts.
