Tripoli: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an investigation into violations in prisons run by the Stabilization Support Apparatus in Tripoli. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Trk, has urged the Libyan authorities to conduct immediate, independent, impartial, and transparent investigations into the human rights violations occurring in both official and unofficial detention facilities managed by the Stabilization Support Force in Tripoli.

According to Libyan News Agency, Trk expressed his shock over the gross human rights violations revealed in these facilities. He emphasized the urgent need for the Libyan authorities to close these sites and initiate immediate investigations, as highlighted in a statement published by the UN mission. The findings align with reports from the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission, as well as various eyewitness accounts, detailing the existence of such sites and the extent of violations, including torture and enforced disappearances.

Trk further stated that recent discoveries have confirmed the worst fears, with dozens of bodies uncovered at these locations, along with tools suspected of being used for torture and abuse, and possible evidence of extrajudicial killings. He called for the preservation of all potential evidence to support accountability efforts and stressed that those responsible must be brought to justice promptly, adhering to international standards.

The UN High Commissioner voiced his concern over reports indicating that Libyan forensic authorities, who are responsible for exhuming and identifying human remains, have not yet been granted access to the sites. He urged the authorities to allow full and unhindered access to all sites and called on them to permit the UN to access these locations as part of its mandate to document human rights violations.

According to UNSMIL, the UN Human Rights Office received information between May 18 and 21 about the recovery of ten charred bodies from the Stabilization Support Apparatus headquarters in Abu Salim, along with the discovery of 67 bodies in morgues at Abu Salim and Al-Khadra hospitals.