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Libya: Mass Extra-Judicial Execution
 [All Africa] Armed groups loyal to Libyan National Army forces (LNA) appear to have summarily executed dozens of men in the LNA-controlled town of al-Abyar, Human Rights Watch said today.On October 26, 2017, local police forces discovered the bodies of 36 men, all of them executed, close to a main road south east of al-Abyar, 50 kilometers east of Benghazi. Authorities transferred the bodies to a hospital, where families came to identify them. Relatives of six of the victims told Human Rights Watch that the men had been locked away Please don't kill me! on various dates by gangs loyal to the LNA in Benghazi or in other areas controlled by the LNA. This incident comes after a series of unlawful killings and summary executions in Benghazi that prompted the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to issue an arrest warrant against an LNA special forces commander on August 15. Following the discovery of the 36 bodies in al-Abyar, Gen. Khalifa Hiftar, the LNA chief, ordered the military prosecutor of the eastern region on October 28, to conduct an investigation. The LNA and the military prosecution have yet to announce any investigation results. "The Libyan National Army's pledges to conduct inquiries into repeated unlawful killings in areas under their control in eastern Libya have so far led nowhere," said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The LNA will be condoning apparent war crimes if their pledge to investigate the gruesome discovery in al-Abyar proves to be another empty promise." Posted by: Fred 2017-12-05 |
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