By Sami Zaptia.
London, 30 November 2018:
The UN Special Mission in Libya has condemned the spate of extra-judicial militia killings taking place in Tripoli.
In its statement on the subject released yesterday UNSMIL called on authorities to take action and investigate.
In its statement UNSMIL said:
“UNSMIL continues to receive reports of armed groups carrying out extra-judicial killings in Tripoli, a phenomenon that has been on the rise over the past few weeks.
The Mission affirms that allegations of offences and personal disputes should be judged in a court of law, not by gunmen on the streets.
UNSMIL calls on the Libyan authorities to adopt with immediate effect the necessary measures to protect all persons from targeted killings, send a strong message that these acts are completely unacceptable and back these messages with objective investigations to identify and hold perpetrators of such crimes accountable.
Extrajudicial executions are not only acts of extreme cruelty, violating the laws of this country; they also violate International Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws. Those responsible for committing or ordering extrajudicial killings are criminally liable under international law”, concluded the UNSMIL statement.
It will be recalled that there have been a spate of militia-on-militia killings in the capital Tripoli as a power struggle takes place.
The Tripoli-militia power struggle takes place on the back of the Faiez Serraj Presidency Council and Government of National Accord introducing a new Security Arrangement whereby militias handover more security operations to regular non-militia forces.
This, in turn, was sparked by the South Tripoli militia fighting at the end of August and early September this year, whereby Tarhuna-based militias attacked Tripoli seeking to change the status quo.
They objected on the power monopoly over Tripoli by its militias and their political interefetence and resultant access to wealth.
As a result, Tripoli militias have been going through the motion of handing over state sites to regular security forces. Some militia leaders have objected to their loss of power and it’s though some of these militia hits are as a result of this.
However, there is no clear evidence of this and these assassinations could easily he individual score-settling acts.
