Several people have died after being tortured by militias in Libyan detention centres, human rights group Amnesty International has said. It claimed to have seen patients in Tripoli, Misrata and Gheryan with open wounds to their head, limbs and back.| Imagine that. Torture in a civil war in a third world country... |
The UN says it is concerned about the conditions in which patients are held.
"The torture is being carried out by officially recognised military and security entities as well as by a multitude of armed militias operating outside any legal framework," a spokesman for London-based Amnesty said.
"After all the promises to get detention centres under control, it is horrifying to find that there has been no progress to stop the use of torture," Donatella Rovera, from the charity, said.
Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was being "exploited" as some patients were being brought to them between interrogation sessions. "Our role is to provide medical care to war casualties and sick detainees, not to repeatedly treat the same patients between torture sessions," said general director Christopher Stokes.
More than 8,500 detainees, most of them accused of being loyal to former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, are being held by militia groups in about 60 centres, according to UN human rights chief Navi Pillay.
"The lack of oversight by the central authority creates an environment conducive to torture and ill treatment," she said. "My staff have received alarming reports that this is happening in places of detention they have visited."