Tripoli, April 8
Members of Misrata Local Council and other local leaders in the city could be held criminally responsible for ongoing . . .[restrict]serious crimes by forces under their command according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In a a letter to the city’s military and civilian leaders, HRW said they could be held responsible by international organisations including the International Criminal Court (ICC).
HRW claimed there was the ongoing torture and abuse in detention facilities in and around Misrata and continued arrests, torture, and forced displacement of people from the nearby town of Tawergha. These abuses, it said, appeared to be so widespread and systematic that they might amount to crimes against humanity.
“Our letter to Misrata authorities is a wake-up call,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW. “Five months after the conflict with Qaddafi forces ended, militias from Misrata are still committing serious abuses – crimes under Libyan and international law – and the city’s leaders can be held legally responsible for those acts by the ICC.”
HRW acknowledged that war crimes were committed by Qaddafi forces against the people of Misrata during the 2011 conflict, which require accountability. But these crimes did not justify the abuses going on today, Human Rights Watch said.
HRW claimed that the ICC had ongoing jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Libya since February 15, 2011,and that it could prosecute military commanders and senior civilian official for serious crimes committed by forces or subordinates under their effective command and control.
It noted that a UN inquiry concluded on March 2 that militias from Misrata had apparently committed crimes against humanity.
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