Amnesty: NTC must investigate torture

Amnesty International said on Thursday: “The Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) must act immediately to investigate and prosecute abuses against the Tawargha community of black Libyans”.  This was after a Tawargha man was tortured to death in a Misratah detention centre.   The body of Barnous Bous’a, a 44-year-old father of two, was delivered to his family on April 16. The body was covered with bruises and cuts, and included an open wound to the back of the head. Bousa was a civilian who fled his home in the city of Kararim in western Libya during the conflict, eventually settling in Sirte. After his arrest in October 2011 by militiamen from the city of Misrata, as he reportedly tried to flee the fighting in Sirte, he was allegedly held at a detention facility under the control of Misrata’s Security Committee. The committee was created under the Misrata local council. Hassiba Hadj, the MENA deputy director of Amnesty said: “This brutal death highlights the continuing dangers to detainees in the new Libya. How many more victims will die from torture until the authorities realise the gravity of the situation, and deliver on their promises of investigating, prosecuting and putting an end to such crimes?” In the past, Amnesty International claims to have documented more than a dozen deaths in custody at the hands of armed militias since September 2011. This came amid widespread torture of suspected Gaddafi loyalists and soldiers. A high proportion of the victims were allegedly Tawarghas. "The city of Tawargha’s entire population of some 30,000 people, have suffered abuses at the hands of armed militias. The revenge was for their town’s perceived loyalty to the former government, as well for crimes that some Tawargha are accused of having committed during the siege and shelling of the neighbouring city of Misrata by Gaddafi forces," said the report. "In August of last year, militias from Misrata drove out the entire population of Tawargha, and looted and burnt down their homes. Since that time, Misratah armed brigades have been hunting down Tawarghas across Libya, snatching men from camps for displaced people, homes, checkpoints and even hospitals. They are then brought back to detention centres in Misratah, where they are routinely tortured, in some cases to death. Hundreds of Tawarghas are believed to be detained in Misratah with fresh arrests reported to Amnesty International this week," said the rights gorup. Amnesty has said that at least two Tawargha men have been taken from Tripoli since 12 April. Their families have not been able to locate their whereabouts, but have only heard that they were transferred to Misrata. The rights organisation also warns that these two men are at serious risk of torture and even death. One relative, who pleaded with Amnesty International for help said: “We are so afraid for the safety of all Tawarghas once they are taken to Misratah. We cannot bear to hear more bad news. We are not safe anywhere, we can’t leave home, we are trapped. If we go out, we risk arrest too. We can’t even leave and search for our relatives.” However on Monday, Misrata’s local leadership denied these allegations of widespread torture and abuses committed by the city’s militias, stating that: “reconciliation between the two towns of Misrata and Tawargha, was probably impossible at the moment, and that some alternative solution for the Tawargha people was needed”. Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said that: “the leadership in Misratah is turning a blind eye to the mounting evidence of abuses committed at the hands of Misratah militias, arguing that only ‘individual mistakes’ take place”. She added: “it is imperative that the NTC now reins in these militias, investigates all abuses and prosecutes those responsible, on all sides, in accordance with international law. Only then will Libya begin to turn the page on decades of systematic human rights violations.”