HRS calls on GNA to define its position on the violations of Maitiqa prison

HRS said in new press release “More than four years have passed since the Government of National Accord (GNA) took office in Tripoli, and the militias operating under the mantra of the GNA, are still receiving salaries and benefits, despite violating the human rights of thousands of detainees. The GAN, especially the Ministries of Interior and Justice, must stop evading their responsibilities and move to end these violations, or publicly declare that they do not have any authority over these militias

it also stated “ Torture and ill-treatment are systematically practiced at Mitiga prison. The most common methods of torture include beatings with various objects such as metal bars, water pipes [PPR], flogging on the soles of the feet [falga], suspension in a painful position, burning with cigarettes or hot rods, and electric shocks. The testimonies of some detainees have repeatedly reported deaths in custody, either due death under torture, or deliberate medical negligence and malnutrition. The OHCHR also reported that women being subjected to sexual harassment and sexual assault, there are no female guards at Mitiga prison.”

HRS ended its press release with specific demands to GNA

1. Allow a medical team, doctors and nurses of both sexes, to visit Mitiga Prison, accompanied by representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Justice, Health, the Libyan Red Crescent and the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, to examine inmates and transfer the cases which need medical care to hospitals,
2. Inspect and document the conditions of detention in terms of cleanliness, facilities and catering,
3. Review the records of Mitiga Prison, and compare them with testimonies of detainees and relatives, and prepare a complete list of the detainees who are still in detention, all those who were detained and released, all those who died in detention, whether due to illness, or killed under torture, or extrajudicially killed,
4. Transfer all women to the women’s section of al-Jadida prison, which is supervised by female guards.
5. Transfer all juvenile detainees to the juvenile institutions,
6. Transfer all male detainees to prisons that are actually supervised by the Judicial Police,
7. Review the cases of all detainees, starting with women accompanied by their children, and immediately release all those whom there are no legal causes to that would permit their detention, and guarantee the right to reparation,
8. Guarantee accountability for those responsible of violations of International Human Rights Law,
9. Annul Presidential Council Resolution No. (555) of 2018, disband the Special Deterrence Force and other armed groups, and reintegrate their members as individuals and not as groups in the various security services, in accordance with a comprehensive strategy for security sector reform