By Yasmine Titouni / GICJ

On July 6th, a dialogue on technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights in Libya was held. Pursuant to Resolution 48/25, the Fact-Finding Mission on Libya was tasked with producing a report on the human rights situation in Libya and submitting it to the Human Rights Council during its fiftieth session. The subsequent discussion of the report focused on the alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by all parties in Libya since the beginning of 2016, and the need to preserve evidence to ensure perpetrators are held accountable.

The Mission, which was created at the request of the Libyan government, disclosed clear patterns of human rights violations and abuses against men, women, children, internal and external migrants, and prisoners in both official and unofficial detention facilities.

While we acknowledge Libya's request for the Mission to assist national authorities in their efforts to investigate human rights violations as a sign of good faith, Geneva International Center for Justice (GICJ) urges immediate action to trigger awareness among Libyans of their right to justice and reparations. The international community and the government of Libya must combine their efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence by ‘removing legal and structural barriers that prevent its reporting’. Measures taken to address these issues should include providing victims with access to rehabilitation resources and justice, publicly denouncing all types of gender-based violence, and holding offenders accountable for their crimes.

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