Human Rights Solidarity Organization calls for the release of the detained migrants at the “Correction and Reform Institution – Joud Daa’im” Prison

Human Rights Solidarity Organization (HRS) calls on the Libyan authorities to immediately release the Syrian migrants detained at the “Correction and Reform Institution – Joud Daa’im” prison[1]. Twenty migrants, including four minors[2], were arrested in the vicinity of Zuwara in early September of last. On October 31, 2022, the al-A’jailat Court sentenced 14 of them[3] for deportation from Libya immediately after paying the fines it imposed, ranging from two hundred to six hundred Libyan dinars. The prosecution accused the migrants of “residing in Libya without permission from the competent authorities” and that “their entry into Libya was in order to cross the sea to Italy”.

The Syrian migrants arrived in Libya aboard direct flights, operated by “Sham Wings Airlines”, from Damascus airport to Benina airport in Benghazi, and entered with a “security clearance” issued by the “Military Investment Authority” of the so-called “General Command of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces”[4]. However, the authorities in Tripoli, the Ministry of Interior, and its affiliated agencies, do not recognize these security clearances and do not recognize the entry stamp on the passports of arrivals via Benina Airport[5].

HRS did not observe any efforts by the authorities in Tripoli, neither diplomatic nor legal, to stop Cham Wings flights to Benina Airport, and contented itself with only punishing the expat travellers once they moved to the western regions of the country.

Detention conditions in the prison are very bad, and detainees suffer from malnutrition and lack of safe drinking water, in addition to the spread of infectious skin diseases such as scabies. According to reliable sources, the migrants have been on hunger strike since Monday, February 27, to protest ill-treatment and their continued detention, even though their relatives have paid the fines.

HRS considers the trial to be unfair. There was no reference in the text of the verdict to enable the defendants to appoint or request lawyers to defend them, which is a clear violation of a basic human right of a person deprived of his liberty[6]. Whereas the deportation of detainees to their country-of-origin Syria, is contrary to International Human Rights Law[7] and International Humanitarian Law[8]. Also, their arrest and trial, a trial that did not meet fair trial standards, deprived these migrants the access to assistance provided by international organizations working in Libya, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, and Doctors Without Borders.

Based on the above, Human Rights Solidarity Organization calls on the Libyan authorities, represented by the Government of National Unity, to immediately release the detainees, and calls on them to take legal and diplomatic measures to force Cham Wings to stop human smuggling.

Human Rights Solidarity Organization

Tripoli, Libya

Appendices:

• Appendix 1: Samples of security clearances issued by Khalifa Haftar’s “Military Investment Authority” and correspondence with airlines.
• Appendix 2: A copy of the judgment of the al-A’jailat Court of First Instance against 14 Syrian migrants.

[1] The prison is under the authority of the Ministry of Justice in the government of national unity, and is located in the “Joud Daa’im” area, ~3 Km east of az-Zawiya.

[2] Laith Hashim Shalaby, 14 years old, is disabled (amputated leg).

[3] The fourteen migrants were arrested in the vicinity of the city of Zuwara, while the remaining six were arrested after the boat carrying them was intercepted off the coast of Zuwara.

[4] A group of militias and armed brigades commanded by Khalifa Haftar

[5] According to administrative structure, the personnel of the “Passports, Nationality and Foreigners Affairs” Agency, working at Benina Airport, are affiliated with the Ministry of Interior of the Government of National Unity, but militias affiliated with the so-called “Libyan Arab Armed Forces” control Benina Airport, and therefore Tripoli does not recognize entry visas “security clearances” issued by Haftar’s “Military Investment Authority”.

[6] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: “The Right to a Fair Trial”. Excerpt: “The right to prompt legal assistance upon arrest and detention is essential in many respects, both in order to guarantee the right to an efficient defence and for the purpose of protecting the physical and mental integrity of the person deprived of his or her liberty. While all relevant human rights treaties guarantee the right of an accused to legal counsel of one’s own choosing (art. 14(3(d) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and art. 7(1)(c) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights”, page 235.

[7] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: “The principle of non-refoulement under international human rights law“, excerpt: “Under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be re-turned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm. This principle applies to all migrants at all times, irrespective of migration status”. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”, article (3-1): “No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture”.

[8] Humanitarian Law & Policy, ICRC: “The principle of non-refoulement under Islamic law and international law: complementing international legal protection in Muslim contexts”.