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Intimidation by militias creates censorship in western Libya says rights group
[Libya Herald] Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that human rightsWhen they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... activists in Libya continue to be targeted and prevented from operating, in many cases by militias linked to the Presidency Council and its government of national accord (GNA). It says they have been physically attacked and detained in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and other regions of western Libya. In some cases, activists have disappear altogether. It notes that the authorities have been unable to stem the abuse and that the offenders continue to operate with impunity. HRW says that in April 2017 it interviewed 18 human rights activists, most asking not to be named for fear of repercussions. Eleven claimed to have been threatened by militias or gangs, some of which were affiliated with the UN-backed GNA. "Militias and other gangs with a ’with-us-or-against-us’ mindset have gone after activists, bloggers, and media workers," said HRW’s Middle East and North Africa director, Sarah Leah Whitson. It had forced many to flee the country, either to Tunisia or elsewhere. The GNA, she said, had to take action to prevent the abuse of human rights activists. The activists explained the risks associated with their work in the region, notably accusations of espionage. All the activists interviewed by HRW said they had to censor themselves and often left incidents of harassment unreported out of fear. The report referred to the Libyan Centre for Freedom of the Press (LCFP) which expressed its concerns over the fact that the majority of activists had to practice self-censorship because of fears for their own safety. It noted that they rarely filed police complaints for fear of reprisals and, in some cases, the police refused to accept a complaint. "By silencing critics through threats of violence, warlords and thuggish militias have found a convenient way to expand their power base at the expense of political stability," said Whitson, noting that, on the contrary, the Constitution Declaration in 2011 guaranteed "freedom of opinion, individual and collective expression, research, communication, press, media, printing and editing, movement, assembly, demonstration and peaceful sit-in in accordance with the statute". Posted by: Fred 2017-07-28 |
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