Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights: Rupert Colville
7 June 2019
Location: Geneva
Subject: (1)
Libya
(2) Sudan
(3) South Sudan
(1) Libya
We are deeply concerned about the
ghastly conditions in which migrants and refugees are being held in detention
in Libya – with some 22 having died of tuberculosis and other illnesses in the
Zintan detention facility since September 2018 – as well as ongoing reports of
disappearances and human trafficking after people were intercepted at sea by
the Libyan Coast Guard.
So far this year, a total of more
than 2,300 people have been picked up off the coast of Libya and put in
detention facilities. And the Libyan Coast Guard reports that since 30 April,
it has delivered hundreds of people to a facility in Al-Khoms, which is under
the oversight of the Department for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM). This
includes 203 people who were delivered there on 23 May. However, the Al-Khoms
facility reports that there are currently only 30 migrants present. This is
particularly worrying given reports that migrants are being sold for forced
labour or to smugglers promising transit to Europe. There are also reports that
some women have been sold for sexual exploitation. We have long documented the
kinds of horrific abuses to which migrants and refugees are subjected in Libya.
We urge the Government of National
Accord to immediately launch an independent investigation to locate these
missing people. The Libyan Coast Guard and the DCIM must ensure that they are
accountable for every person in detention, and that their human rights are
respected. We remind the Government that when a person dies in custody, there
is a presumption of State responsibility. Libya has a heightened duty of care
to protect the lives of individuals deprived of liberty, including providing
them with the necessary medical care.
During a recent visit to the Zintan
Detention Centre, where 654 refugees and migrants are held, we found them
severely malnourished, lacking water, locked in overcrowded warehouses reeking
with the smell of rubbish and waste from overflowing latrines. Those held in
the facilities reportedly receive only one meal of 200 grams of plain pasta per
day. Some 432 Eritreans detained in the facility – 132 of them children –
reportedly receive only half of this amount. More than 60 people suffering from
tuberculosis are locked in a separate isolation hangar. Thirty others have been
moved to the Gharyan Detention Centre, south of Tripoli, very close to the
current frontline. They have reportedly been sent there to die because there
are no burial facilities for Christians in Zintan.
The conditions at Zintan Detention
Centre amount to inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, and may also
amount to torture.
Some 3,400 migrants and refugees
remain detained in Tripoli, according to UN figures. We appeal to the
authorities in Libya and the international community to ensure that migrants
and refugees held in such detention facilities are immediately released, that
evacuation, resettlement and voluntary humanitarian return options urgently
expanded, and alternatives to detention are developed.
(2) Sudan
We continue to be gravely concerned
about the situation in Sudan and have proposed the rapid deployment of a UN
human rights monitoring team to examine allegations of human rights violations
committed since 3 June 2019. We are seeking the cooperation of the Government
of Sudan to be able to deploy such a mission – which would seek to engage with
relevant Sudanese authorities, civil society organisations and others – at the
earliest opportunity.
Once again, we call on the
authorities to ensure a prompt, independent investigation into the use of
excessive force against protest camps – including the alleged involvement of
the Rapid Support Forces, which includes among its troops members of the former
Janjaweed militias that are linked to systematic human rights abuses in the
Darfur region between 2003 and 2008 in particular. Accountability is crucial to
avoid further bloodshed. We stress the need for a swift transition to a
civilian administration.
(3) South Sudan
We welcome the unanimous
ratification, without reservations of two vital human rights treaties this week
by the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) of South Sudan.
The TNLA on Monday ratified the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), as
well as the First Optional Protocols to both instruments, which establish individual
complaints procedures. Once the decision is signed by the President of South
Sudan, the Government will need to deposit instruments of accession to the UN
Secretary-General. The treaties and optional protocols will enter into force
for South Sudan three months after the date of accession.
The Human Rights Division of the UN
Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has provided technical support throughout the
ratification process, which began in 2015.
ENDS
For more information and media
requests, please contact: Rupert Colville - + 41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org or Ravina
Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org
or Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / mhurtado@ohchr.org
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