Libyan militia members man a checkpoint in the capital,
Tripoli, in December
(CNN) -- Armed militias in Libya are
committing human rights abuses with impunity, threatening to
destabilize the country and hindering its efforts to
rebuild, Amnesty International said Thursday.
Militias have tortured detainees, targeted migrants and
displaced entire communities in revenge attacks, according
to a report the organization released a year after the start
of popular uprisings that eventually ended Moammar Gadhafi's
42-year rule.
"Hundreds of armed militias, widely hailed in Libya as
heroes for their role in toppling the former regime, are
largely out of control," the report says.
Detainees at 10 facilities used by militia in central and
western Libya told representatives from Amnesty
International this year that they had been tortured or
abused. Several detainees said they confessed to crimes they
had not committed in order to stop the torture, Amnesty
International said.
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At least 12 detainees held by militias have died after
being tortured since September, the human rights
organization said, adding that authorities have not
effectively investigated the torture allegations.
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"A year ago Libyans risked their lives to demand
justice," Donatella Rovera, a senior crisis response adviser
at Amnesty, said in a statement. "Today their hopes are
being jeopardized by lawless armed militias who trample
human rights with impunity. The only way to break with the
entrenched practices of decades of abuse under (Gadhafi's)
authoritarian rule is to ensure that nobody is above the law
and that investigations are carried out into such abuses."
Libyan officials could not be immediately reached for
comment.
A spokesman for the Tripoli Military Council told CNN on
Wednesday that civilian leaders in Libya must do more to
assert their authority, holding accountable militia members
who perpetrate abuses.
"If the Libyan state is being built, these guys who
committed this need to be brought to justice, whether they
are revolutionary fighters or not, otherwise the whole world
will ask, 'What changed in Libya?' The same systemic abuse
and torture is continuing, and this is dangerous for the new
Libya," council spokesman Anes Alsharif said. "The only
solution is for the government to take over. You can not let
these guys keep holding the prisoners."
Civilian authorities have been slow to step in, Alsharif
said, even though some prisoners have been held for months
without facing official charges.
"When you talk to the government they say, 'keep them, we
don't have time yet.' and this is wrong," he said.
A process for government takeovers of prisons has begun,
Libya's interim prime minister said in a televised address
last month.
Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed
Shalgham, told the United Nations last month that Libya does
not approve of any abuse of detainees and was working to
stop any such practices.
Libyan Interior Minister Fawzy Abdilal told CNN this
month that the country's interim government had not yet
succeeded in integrating militias from different cities into
a national security force.
Other organizations have also raised concerns about the
militias.
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said last
month it was halting its work in detention centers in
Misrata because detainees were tortured and were denied
urgent medical care.
Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that the
torture and killing of detainees is an ongoing practice
among Libyan militias and will continue unless the militias
are held to account.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh
contrbuted to this report.
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