On the finding of the corpses of 4 children west of az-Zawiyah

Human Rights Solidarity (HRS) calls for an investigation into the circumstances and causes of the death of five children found near the seashore, west of Al-Zawiya, and make the results of the investigation public.

The Libyan Red Crescent Society branch in az-Zawiyah[i] announced that it had recovered “three unidentified corpses in al-Harsha area and one corpse in az-Zawiyah refinery”, and that it had handed them over to az-Zawiyah hospital. The Red Crescent Society did not specify the nationality of the four children, and it stated that the number is four, but one media channel[ii] reported that the number of dead children was five and that they were Egyptian.

HRS has received information from informed sources, who wish not to be disclosed, indicating that there are suspicions about the causes of death, and there have been no reports of a boat or a ship carrying migrants sinking near the shores of Zawiya.

For these reasons[iii], there are concerns that the children might be victims of a crime committed by human trafficking gangs[iv] and did not die in a sinking of an illegal immigration boat. These concerns will only be dispelled by a formal and transparent investigation.

[i] Libyan Red Crescent Society, az-Zawiyah Branch: “After receiving a call from the local authorities about 4 unidentified corpses, 1 in Al-Zawiya refinery and 3 behind Rabesh [broken cars dump] al-Harsha. The recovery team went to the place and retrieved the bodies, and then they were delivered to al-Rahma House in az-Zawiyah Hospital to complete the rest of the procedures.”, Facebook account of the Society, December 16, 2020.

[ii] Russia Today (RT): “Bodies of 5 drowned Egyptian children were recovered on the western coast of Libya”, December 16, 2020. RT attributed its information to the Libyan Red Crescent Society – az-Zawiyah branch, but the society did not publish any information about the nationality of the child victims.

[iii] In addition, the bodies of the children were found wrapped in blankets, and this is not possible for bodies thrown by the sea, and the published photos do not show signs that the victims died in the sea (swelling or decomposing).

[iv] There are reports from time to time about the killing of irregular migrants at the hands of human trafficking gangs, including mass killings, such as the incident of the discovery of 15 bodies of migrants in the Talil Forest near the city of Sabratha on March 7, 2017, “Sabratha security investigates the murder of migrants, and reveals illegal burial of bodies”, and the mass murder in which 30 migrants were killed in the city of Mazda on May 27, 2020, “IOM Deplores Killing of 30 Trafficked Migrants in Libya”