(Tripoli) – Libyan authorities should conduct
an independent investigation into the quelling of a prison protest in
which at least 19 inmates sustained gunshot or shrapnel wounds. The
protest took place on August 26, 2013, at Tripoli Main Corrections and
Rehabilitation Institution, known by its former name al-Roueimy, where
around 500 detainees, including five women, were being held.
Government and prison authorities and 20 inmates interviewed by Human
Rights Watch gave conflicting accounts of what occurred at the facility
in Tripoli when a two-day hunger strike by detainees sparked a violent
confrontation with guards at the jail. As backup, authorities called
members of the Supreme Security Committee, a body of former anti-Gaddafi
fighters with a mandate to conduct policing and nominally under the
Ministry of Interior.
“The government needs to establish what happened on August 26 and
explain how so many prisoners had gunshot wounds and other serious
injuries,” said
Joe Stork,
acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
“Anyone found to have used unlawful violence against prisoners should be
held to account under
Libya’s criminal law.”
Al-Roueimy prison is under the formal authority of the Ministry of
Justice and holds detainees related to the 2011 uprising that ousted
former strongman Muammar Gaddafi. The “security” detainees include
loyalists of the former government, members of Gaddafi’s security forces
and volunteers who fought alongside these forces.
Following the violence on August 26, authorities moved around 150 of
the detainees to the adjacent Ayn Zara prison, also administered by the
Ministry of Justice. Human Rights Watch spoke to 20 of those prisoners
on August 29, both individually and in groups.
Inmates accused al-Roueimy prison authorities of using extensive and
unnecessary violence to force an end to the two-day hunger strike by
detainees. They gave consistent accounts. They said the hunger strike
was to protest their prolonged detention without access to a judge or
any legal procedures.
All detainees interviewed by Human Rights Watch said security forces at
the prison resorted first to the use of firearms, including automatic
weapons, after discussions on ending the hunger strike broke down,
before using tear gas as a secondary measure.
One detainee told Human Rights Watch how the negotiations broke down
around 4 p.m. and arguments began between the protesters and guards.
“This led to heated shouting matches and ultimately one guard opened
fire on us with a Kalashnikov,” he said. “I saw one inmate hit the
ground after being shot in the thigh. He was bleeding profusely.”
The detainee said the shooting sparked other prisoners to break down
cell doors and set fire to mattresses. The guards responded by opening
fire with automatic weapons over the next four hours, at times directly
at prisoners, he and other detainees said.
Senior officials of al-Roueimy prison gave Human Rights Watch a
different version of events. Acting prison director Ali al-Saadi and
former director Haitham Beitelmal said they had faced a “mutiny” by
around 150 inmates, which spread to all sections of the prison. They
said guards at first used tear gas and then fired only rubber bullets
over prisoners’ heads “to scare them”. They said four prison officers
sustained minor injuries and that prison authorities had launched an
internal investigation into the events.
On August 26, the spokesperson for the judicial police, which runs
justice ministry prisons, told a press conference that security forces
had quelled the prisoners’ protest “
peacefully.”
He said security forces had used only nonlethal means, including “smoke
bombs, water cannons and tear gas,” and had caused no casualties. “Not a
single shot was fired at the protesters,” he said, while suggesting
that most prisoners’ injuries were due to a “stampede.”
Minister of Justice Salah al-Marghani acknowledged to Human Rights
Watch on August 31 that authorities had been slow to address weaknesses
in prison security and that untrained and improperly equipped guards may
have contributed to the escalation of violence. “We were slower than we
should have been in providing nonlethal weapons to the prison
authorities,” he said.
Eight of the 20 detainees interviewed by Human Rights Watch sustained
bullet wounds in their arms or legs, including two from whom the bullets
were yet to be extracted. At least 19 inmates had injuries that they
said were caused by shrapnel from ricocheting gunfire, which was
confirmed by the clinic sources, suggesting arbitrary shooting of live
ammunition by guards into areas occupied by detainees. Most had
sustained injuries to their legs or arms, although one received a head
wound.
Sources at the Ayn Zara prison clinic, which treated inmates injured in
the al-Roueimy prison violence, confirmed to Human Rights Watch that
some of those admitted had sustained direct gunshot wounds and others
had injuries apparently caused by fragments from ricocheting bullets.
“The government should also address inmates’ underlying grievances
about their prolonged detention without charge and lack of access to
lawyers,” Stork said.
Accounts from Witnesses
Human Rights Watch is withholding the identity of the inmates whose
interviews are cited below to safeguard them against possible reprisals.
One inmate told Human Rights Watch that detainees began a peaceful
hunger strike on August 24 to protest their prolonged incarceration in
breach of judicial procedures. Prison authorities, he said, had
repeatedly told detainees that they would be taken before a prosecutor
to commence legal procedures, yet: “Some of us have been detained for
two years without any formal charge or seeing a judge even once, so, we
decided to go on strike.”
Inmates said that the authorities had tried to convince them to end the
hunger strike before resorting quickly to lethal force, including
shooting with firearms, at about 4 p.m. on August 26. They said the
shooting continued for four hours.
One inmate who said he was in a hallway together with other detainees when the violence began told Human Rights Watch:
The situation inside the prison escalated
when prison authorities started to insult detainees. This led to heated
shouting matches and ultimately one guard opened fire on us with a
Kalashnikov. I saw one inmate hit the ground after being shot in the
thigh. He was bleeding profusely. Another detainee rushed to carry him
out of harm’s way and this is when tension reached a boiling point.
News spread fast that this inmate was fatally injured [which was
untrue] so detainees started to break doors of cells and burn personal
belongings and mattresses to try and create a thick smoke that would
shield us from the ever intensifying onslaught of security forces. They
were shooting directly at us through the metal bars and through the
barred ceiling of the corridors and courts. I saw guards of the prison,
but they were joined with some men wearing masks.
Only after shooting was “well underway,” the inmate said, guards
began to throw tear gas into the cells and courtyards. Inmates allowed a
prison official and some guards who had become trapped to escape
safely, but firing by guards continued: “until the prison director and
some other men from Ayn Zara prison arrived and intervened.”
One inmate who sustained gunshot injuries told Human Rights Watch that
prison guards handcuffed and beat him and other wounded detainees as
they were evacuated to the clinic at Ayn Zara prison.
Inmates told Human Rights Watch that security forces used several types
of firearms, including Kalashnikov assault rifles and 9 mm shotguns,
and drove 14.5 mm caliber anti-aircraft weapons into the prison
courtyard to intimidate them.
One female inmate told Human Rights Watch that the section of the
prison in which she was held saw no violence but was affected by the
tear gas. “Prison authorities seemed overwhelmed and did not know what
to do,” she said. “We stayed inside our section the whole day, we did
not even open the door to get our lunch, we were too afraid.”
Prison authorities told Human Rights Watch that they called in
additional security forces to secure the “outside perimeters of the
prison” but denied that anyone other than judicial police officers
entered the facility or were involved in quelling the protest. They
insisted that officers did not shoot directly at detainees and used only
rubber-coated bullets once tear gas had failed to disperse the
protesting prisoners.
Arbitrary Detention and Ill-treatment
All of the inmates that Human Rights Watch interviewed pointed to a
lack of judicial reviews or other legal procedures to resolve their
cases as the principal cause of the hunger strike. One detainee from
Sirte said that he had been detained since August 23, 2011 but had yet
to be taken before a judge or to be informed of any charges against him.
Anyone who is detained without prompt judicial review is a victim of
arbitrary detention. The UN Human Rights Committee has stated that the
right to judicial review of detention is a fundamental right that cannot
be removed even during an emergency. The Libyan authorities should
ensure that all detainees are promptly brought before a judge or
judicial body to review the legality of their detention. If their
detention is not lawfully justified, they should be released
immediately. Only those against whom there is evidence of their
involvement in committing crimes should be charged, Human Rights Watch
said.
Some of the inmates who spoke to Human Rights Watch complained of
ill-treatment by guards at al-Roueimy prison prior to the protest. They
alleged that guards had threatened detainees with dogs for minor
breaches such as smoking cigarettes. One inmate exposed his back to show
what he said were welt marks he had sustained during beatings by prison
guards. Others accused guards of threatening and insulting prisoners,
particularly with the “honor” of their female relatives.
Background on Detention Facilities
Libyan authorities have struggled to maintain security at state-run
detention facilities, against a background of repeated mass escapes. In
March 2013, some 50 inmates escaped from Sebha prison in southern Libya,
followed by the escape of 170 more in April, after a riot at the
prison. In July, more than 1,200 detainees escaped from al-Kuweifiah
prison during riots in Benghazi. In August, armed men secured the escape
of 18 detainees when they attacked the convoy taking them from prison
to a court in Tripoli.
In his meeting with Human Rights Watch, Justice Minister Salah
al-Marghani voiced concern about general security conditions and the
possibility of further violence in prisons. As key constraints he cited
the lack of judicial procedures, weak safeguards for detainees, lawyers
and judges, and poor training and the lack of equipment for the judicial
police. He said his ministry was creating a special force of 1,000
highly trained judicial police officers to oversee the security of
detention facilities and to counter escalating tensions but such changes
required time and “events are overtaking us.”
Legal Standards
All detainees should be charged or released within a reasonable time.
All those facing criminal charges have the right to be informed of the
nature and cause of each charge against them and be brought promptly
before a judge.
Arbitrary detention is strictly prohibited under international law.
Arbitrary detention can amount to a crime against humanity if it is
widespread or systematic, and carried out as the policy of the state, or
the policy of an organized group such as a militia.
Security forces, including prison guards, should abide by the United
Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials, Human Rights Watch said. The principles call upon
law enforcement officials to “minimize damage and injury, and respect
and preserve human life” and to use lethal force only when strictly
unavoidable in order to protect life:
Principle 15: Law enforcement officials,
in their relations with persons in custody or detention, shall not use
force, except when strictly necessary for the maintenance of security
and order within the institution, or when personal safety is threatened.
Principle 16: Law enforcement officials, in their relations with
persons in custody or detention, shall not use firearms, except in
self-defence or in the defence of others against the immediate threat of
death or serious injury, or when strictly necessary to prevent the
escape of a person in custody or detention presenting the danger
referred to in principle 9.
The Basic Principles require governments to ensure an effective
review process is available on possible unlawful use of force or
firearms by law enforcement officials, and that independent
administrative or prosecutorial authorities are in a position to
exercise jurisdiction in appropriate circumstances.
نظرا
لما تتعرض له البلد هذه الأيام من خطر حقيقي، يهدد حياة الناس، في طرقاتهم
وفي غذائهم وأقواتهم، ويقض مضاجعهم في معاشهم، فإن مجلس البحوث والدراسات
الشرعية بدار الإفتاء - شعورا منه بمسؤولية الأحداث التي يمر بها الوطن -
قرر مايلي:
خصصت
صحيفة الاندبندنت تقريرا عن الوضع في ليبيا، رصد فيه موفد الصحيفة، باتريك
كوبيرن، انتشار سطوة المليشيات وسيطرتها على مواقع حيوية في البلاد. يقول
باتريك كوبيرن في تقريره إن وزير الدفاع البريطاني، فليب هاموند، أوعز إلى
رجال الأعمال البريطانيين بأن يتوجهوا للاستثمار في إعادة إعمار ليبيا بعد
سقوط نظام معمر القذافي. ولكن ليبيا حاليا تكاد تتوقف عن إنتاج النفط، لأن
الحكومة فقدت السيطرة على أغلب مناطق البلاد بعد سيطرة المليشيات. فقد
استولى عناصر أمن غاضبون على موانئ تصدير النفط، سعيا لبيع كميات من الخام
في السوق السوداء. ولذلك هدد رئيس الوزراء الليبي، علي زيدان، بضرب أي
سفينة تقترب من الموانئ لأخذ شحنات نفط من المليشيات. وأضاف تقرير الصحيفة
أن العالم ركز اهتمامه على الأحداث في مصر، وعلى استخدام غاز السارين في
سوريا، بينما تغرق ليبيا في أزمة اقتصادية وأمنية خانقة، بعيدا عن أعين
وسائل الإعلام العالمية. واستطردت قائلة إن الحكومة المركزية في ليبيا
أشرفت على التفكك، مما يشكك في الادعاءات الأمريكية والفرنسية بأن تدخل حلف
الأطلسي في ليبيا كان عملية ناجحة، وبالتالي يمكن تكراره في سوريا.
استأنفت
شركة «طيران الإمارات» منذ مطلع سبتمبر الجاري، تشغيل رحلات الركاب إلى
العاصمة الليبية، طرابلس، في خطوة تؤكد التزام الناقلة الدولية الأسرع
نمواً تجاه ليبيا، وأهميتها ضمن شبكة محطاتها العالمية. وقال
نائب رئيس «طيران الإمارات» للعمليات التجارية لمنطقة شمال وغرب إفريقيا،
عادل الغيث، إن «خدمات الشركة لا تقتصر على ربط طرابلس مع دبي فقط، بل
تتعداها إلى مختلف محطات شبكة خطوطها التي تغطي أكثر من 130 محطة». وأضاف
أن «الحجوزات المبكرة المؤكدة أظهرت مدى قوة الطلب، ما سيفتح فرصاً
وأسواقاً جديدة أمام ركابنا من وإلى طرابلس». وأوضح أن «جميع المؤشرات تظهر
أن الاقتصاد الليبي عائد بقوة إلى مسار النمو، في وقت ستسهم فيه رحلات
الناقلة إلى طرابلس في دعم الأعمال والحركة التجارية بين طرابلس وبقية دول
العالم». وكانت «طيران الإمارات» استأنفت خدمة وجهة طرابلس بثلاث رحلات في
الأسبوع، أيام الأحد والثلاثاء والخميس، باستخدام طائرات «بوينغ 777 ــ
200 إي آر» بتوزيع الدرجات الثلاث (الأولى، ورجال الأعمال، والسياحية)،
فيما تتم الرحلات عبر التوقف في مالطا. وتقلع رحلة «طيران
الإمارات» رقم «إي كيه 745» من مطار دبي الدولي في الساعة 9:30 صباحاً
لتصل إلى مالطا في الساعة 1:25 بعد الظهر، وتغادر منها في الساعة 14:45 بعد
الظهر لتصل إلى طرابلس في الساعة 15:55 عصراً. أما رحلة العودة، فتغادر
مطار طرابلس الدولي في الساعة 17:25 مساءً لتصل إلى دبي في الساعة الواحدة
من صباح اليوم التالي.
نفى
وزير الخارجية الليبي، محمد عبد العزيز، رئيس الدورة الحالية لمجلس
الجامعة العربية على المستوى الوزاري، تدخل أي دولة خارجية فى القرار
العربي بشأن سوريا، خلال اجتماع مجلس الجامعة، الذي عقد الأحد الماضي، بمقر
الأمانة العامة لجامعة الدول العربية، والذي أصدر قرار الجامعة العربية
الخاص بسوريا. وأضاف «عبد العزيز»، في مؤتمر صحفي،: «لم نتعرض لضغوط من قبل
أي دولة خارجية لصدور هذا القرار، ولو كان هناك ضغوط لأصدرنا قرارًا
بتأييد الضرب العسكري، مشيرًا إلى أن القرار جاء في إطار الشرعية الدولية،
وأنه لا يعطي الشرعية لدولة بتوجية ضربة بعيدًا عن الشرعية. وكشف الوزير
الليبي أن بلاده عارضت بشدة عقد «جنيف 2» الشهر الماضي، وقال: «أخبرنا
شركاءنا الأوروبيين بأنه لا يجوز عقد جنيف دون تحديد جيد وأهداف محددة»،
مطالبًا الشعوب العربية بأن تثق في الجامعة، وألا تشكك في قراراتها وأن
الجامعة العربية بذلت جهودًا جبارة لحل الأزمة.
قال
مسؤول ملف السجناء الليبيين بالخارج سليمان الفورتية، إن اللجنة المُكلفة
بمتابعة السجناء تبذل قُصارى جهدها لإعادة أكبر عدد منهم إلى ليبيا. وأضاف
الفورتية إن اللجنة تتواصل مع أكثر من 30 دولة في العالم بخصوص الإفراج عن
أكثر من 150 سجينا سياسيا ليبيا ناهيك عن السجناء الجنائيين. وتابع
قائلا: "على الدولة الليبية أن تتخذ خطوات جدية إزاء ملف السجناء ، وأن
تجعله أول اهتماماتها في التعاون مع الدول التي يتواجد بها سجناء ليبيون". وأوضح
الفورتية، أن السجناء المُشار إليهم مسجونون بسبب عدائهم لنظام القذافي،
مستغربا في الوقت نفسه من استمرار سجنهم بعد مضي ما يزيد على العامين منذ
انهيار نظام القذافي.
أعلن
عضو لجنة الطاقة بالمؤتمر الوطني العام سعد بوشرادة اليوم الثلاثاء عن
تشكيل لجنة مكونة من 13 عضوا بالمؤتمر لمتابعة قضية إغلاق الحقول والموانئ
النفطية. وأشار بوشرادة لأجواء لبلاد، "أن اللجنة لها كامل الصلاحيات للنظر
في جميع المتطلبات والاختراقات الواقعة بجميع المنشآت والموانئ النفطية ".