SEPTEMBER 30, 2011
(Tripoli) – The National Transitional Council (NTC), the de facto authority in most of Libya, should work to stop militia groups from making arbitrary arrests and abusing detainees in prisons and makeshift detention facilities across western Libya, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch visited 20 detention facilities in Tripoli and interviewed 53 detainees. The detainees reported mistreatment in six facilities, including beatings and the use of electric shock, and some of them showed scars to support the claims. None had been brought before a judge.
The NTC, with the help of its international supporters, urgently needs to set up a justice system able to provide prompt judicial review of all detainees, a task that has not been given sufficiently high priority, Human Rights Watch said.
“After all that Libyans suffered in Muammar Gaddafi’s jails, it’s disheartening that some of the new authorities are subjecting detainees to arbitrary arrest and beatings today,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The NTC owes it to the people of Libya to show that they will institute the rule of law from the start.”
