AHRC Puts Trump on Notice of Being Held Complicit in LIBYAN TORTURE AND DEATH

Sending LGBTQI+ or any detainees from the USA to Libya makes Donald Trump, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, department leads and anyone carrying out the orders, complicit in the all the harms that will follow to include torture and even death. What follow is our Governments OWN reporting on Libya's human rights. Hence the evidence is clear that this U.S. Government is fully aware of the deplorable conditions to which they are sending detainees. The conditions in Libya for any detainee are deplorable. They make El Salvador seem like the Waldorf Astoria.

Human Rights Groups and families are putting Trump, Noem and Rubio on notice that they will be held personally accountable by international tribunals for any crimes against humanity – and sending people into this known cesspool is a flagrant human rights abuse, a crime against humanity.

The Trump admin is on notice – torture is illegal and sending people to places that they know inflict torture violates the Convention Against Torture, with refoulement evidence of intent. Non-refoulment is basic law that specifically stops governments from sending people to countries where they are likely to be tortured and subjected to other human rights abuses.

One only has to read the U.S. State Department’s reports from 2017-2023 to be clear that Libya is a torturous and deathly environment for any detainee. In fact even worse if anyone is LGBTQI+.

By sending people to Libya, Trump, Noem and Rubio would be complicit in torture and all the harms that will be suffered by any detainee sent to that country. This Trump admin is fully aware of the horrors that await these detainees. What could be more evidential of being blatantly complicit in the torture and other horrors, than this reporting from the very Departments of Government which they lead – and I quote directly:

US STATE DEPT REPORT FOR LIBYA, 2023:

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses

The 2011 Constitutional Declaration and postrevolutionary legislation prohibited such practices. The FFM final report documented widespread instances of torture, and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in all prisons it investigated, irrespective of prison location or the entity in control of the detainees.

An unknown number of individuals, including refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants, were held in facilities under the control of armed groups affiliated with either the government or the LNA, or in extralegal facilities run by smugglers and other nonstate actors. The criminal and nonstate armed groups controlling extralegal facilities routinely tortured and abused detainees, subjecting them to arbitrary killings, rape and sexual violence, beatings, electric shocks, burns, forced labor, and deprivation of food and water, according to dozens of testimonies shared with international aid agencies and human rights groups. In many instances, the purpose of this abuse was reportedly to extort payments from detainees’ families.

In April, Lawyers for Justice in Libya and Libya Crimes Watch documented torture, rape, medical neglect, arbitrary detention, lack of access to family and legal counsel, and other mistreatment inside the al-Kwaifiya prison’s military wing in Benghazi. Witnesses stated that the center’s staff routinely administered severe beatings to detainees and committed harassment and rape. Male detainees testified they often heard screaming coming from the women’s wing. They reported one woman detainee attempted to climb over the detention center wall to commit suicide.

In April, protests erupted in the northwestern city of Zawiya after a video posted to social media purported to show sub-Saharan African mercenaries torturing young Libyan men inside the headquarters of a local unnamed militia. According to local media, the videos showed the apparent mercenaries flogging, burning, and suspending the youths by their limbs from the ceiling.

Impunity was a significant problem in the security forces. The government took limited steps to investigate, prosecute, and punish officials who committed human rights abuses and acts of corruption within its area of reach; however, its limited resources, as well as political considerations, reduced its ability and willingness to prosecute and punish perpetrators.

Prison and Detention Center Conditions

Prisons and detention facilities were often overcrowded, and conditions were harsh and life threatening.

In its final report, the FFM found reasonable grounds to believe the SDF elements in control of Mitiga detention complex in Tripoli committed crimes against humanity, as did the LNA, LNA-aligned Tarek Ben Ziyad (TbZ) Brigade, and ISA East elements in control of Gernada and al-Kwaifiya prisons in Benghazi. According to the FFM, no detainee it interviewed during its three-year mandate had been held in acceptable conditions of detention.

Abusive Physical Conditions: Prisons were grossly overcrowded. The FFM final report found detainees were denied adequate access to water, food, toilets, sanitation, light, exercise, medical care, legal counsel, and communication with family members. Poor and unsafe infrastructure was common and exacerbated sanitation problems, which contributed to the spread of communicable diseases. The ratio of detainees and prisoners to guards varied significantly during the year. Monitoring and training of prison staff by international organizations remained largely suspended, although training of judicial police continued. There was a lack of adequate gender-sensitive training for male guards.

Although there were often separate facilities for men and women, women were almost universally guarded by male prison guards. UNSMIL and international NGOs received numerous reports of women subjected to forced prostitution in prisons or detention facilities in what amounted to sexual slavery.

Communicable diseases, including tuberculosis, scabies, and HIV and AIDS, affected detainees in some prisons and detention centers. Most prisons lacked functioning health units, and inmates depended on family members for medicine. Inmates needing medical attention were sometimes transferred to public hospitals within the jurisdiction of whichever police unit or militia controlled the prison; these transfers often depended on the availability of private vehicles, as most prisons lacked ambulances. In February, a local NGO reported the death of Fathi Mohammed, age 72, Khawaja in SDF-controlled Mitiga prison as a result of illness and deliberate medical neglect throughout his six-year detention.

There were reportedly no functioning juvenile detention facilities in the country.

Administration: There was no credible information available as to whether authorities conducted investigations of credible allegations of mistreatment.

Independent Monitoring: Multiple independent monitoring organizations reported difficulties gaining access to prison and detention facilities, particularly those administered by the LNA. The government permitted limited, chaperoned independent monitoring of its detention facilities by international organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, but controlled these movements tightly. UN and international aid organization sources reported DCIM officials repeatedly denied access requests. Although some international organizations received permission to visit DCIM-administered migrant detention facilities, the responsiveness of government authorities and level of access varied widely from visit to visit. As of October, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners had conducted 486 monitoring visits to DCIM facilities during the year to administer aid and register refugees and asylum seekers.

BY MELANIE NATHAN commissionermnathan@gmail.com Melanie is a country conditions expert for asylum seekers from 20 African countries