Abu Salim Prison Massacre 23 Years Passed since the Mass Killings of 1’161 Detainees and Justice is still elusive
It has been almost 8 years since the collapse of the Gaddafi regime, which committed the massacre of Abu Salim Prison in Tripoli, the unprovoked[i] mass killing of approx. 1’200 unarmed detainees[ii] on Saturday morning, 29th June 1996, and it has been five years since the General National Congress passed Law[iii] (31/2013) which committed[iv] the State of Libya to “carry out a comprehensive and transparent investigation to determine the perpetrators and their accomplices and bring them to trial”, however till today, 29th June 2018 which marks the twenty-second anniversary of the massacre, results of the investigation were not published, nor were defendants brought to trial.
Human Rights Solidarity (HRS) wrote[v] to the Office of the General Attorney to determine the fate of the prisoners who were being held the prison of “Reform and Rehabilitation Foundation – al-Hadhba”, after an armed militia known as the “Tripoli Revolutionaries Battalion” attacked the prison on 26th May 2017 and took an unknown number of prisoners to an undisclosed location[vi]. More than 100 prisoners in al-Hadhba prison were defendants in the case of Abu Salim prison massacre[vii].
To date, HRS has not received a reply from the Office of the General Attorney. To date, no information has been provided as to whether the prisoners were placed in an official prison run by the Judicial Police, of the Ministry of Justice, or in one of the detention centers run by armed groups outside the jurisdiction of the State.
To date, the fate of the bodies of the victims is not known and therefore they are considered victims of enforced disappearance[viii]. The crime of enforced disappearance does not stop at direct victims, but extends to the families of the victims.
In light of the failure of the authorities to bring the accused to trial, and in light of the political polarization & deadlock currently prevailing in Libya, it is clear that justice before the National Judiciary in this case; disclosure of what happened on the 29th June 1996, holding perpetrators accountable, and reparations for the victims and their families, is not possible in the foreseeable future. HRS has started exploring procedures to prosecute the accused in the case outside Libya, under the Principle of Universal jurisdiction, which permits the prosecution of those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, regardless where the crimes were committed.
[i] Human Rights Solidarity: “Abu Salim Massacre”, 29th June 2018, a copy of the report is attached “LHRS PRS-2019-06-137 EN Annex 01.pdf”.
[ii] On the, 29th June 2016, Human Rights Solidarity, published lists of the names of victims of the massacre from the archives of the Internal Security Agency. The lists contained 1’158 names. After the publication, several families contacted the organization informing it that their relatives, who perished in the massacre, were not included in the published lists. HRS verified the names of 3 victims from one family, el-Sharrani, hence the known number of victims is 1’161 victims. See attachment “LHRS PRS-2019-06-137 EN Annex 02.pdf” for the lists.
[iii] General National Congress: Law (31)/2013 “On setting some of the Special Provisions for the Massacre of Abu Salim Prison”, 18th December 2013, Libyan Official Gazette, 3rd Year, issue no. (4), 7th May 2014.
[iv] Article 1 of Law (31)/2013: “Abu Salim Prison Massacre a crime against humanity, the State of Libya is committed to a comprehensive and transparent investigation to determine the perpetrators and their accomplices and bring them to trial”
[v] HRS sent a letter to the Head of the Office of Investigations in the Office of the Attorney General, dated 10th December 2017, subject was “Prisoners of the Reform and Rehabilitation Foundation – al-Hadhba”, demanding that “prisoners remain in detention in a prison run by the Judicial Police as provided for by Libyan law, and not in detention sites run by armed groups not under the authority of the State, for their safety and security and to complete the trials before the Libyan Judiciary to rule on the charges against them and to bring justice to them, the victims and the society in general.”
[vi] No information has been released by any State institutions in Tripoli, including the Office of the General Attorney, on the number of prisoners transferred from al-Hadhba prison and no confirmation or denial of the numbers of prisoners who managed to escape prisoners during the attack on the prison.
[vii] HRS received information from well-informed sources that the trial court had released number of defendants in the case without clarifying the reasons for the decision and before the trial even began.
[viii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: “International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance“, Article (24) Paragraph (1) “For the purposes of this Convention, “victim” means the disappeared person and any individual who has suffered harm as the direct result of an enforced disappearance.”.
