Notes

Abu Salim alleged prison massacre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Libya#Criticism_of_allegations
In 2006, Amnesty International called for an independent inquiry into unconfirmed deaths that occurred in Abu Salim maximum security prison during the 1996 riot. In 2009, Human Rights Watch believes that 1,270 prisoners were killed.[26][27] However, Human Rights Watch states that they were unable to independently verify the allegations. The claims cited by Human Rights Watch are based on the testimony of a single former inmate, Hussein Al Shafa’i, who stated that he did not witness a prisoner being killed: "I could not see the dead prisoners who were shot..."

The figure of 1200 killed was arrived at by Al Shafa’i allegedly calculating the number of meals he prepared when he was working in the prison's kitchen. At the same time, Al Shafa'i stated "I was asked by the prison guards to wash the watches that were taken from the bodies of the dead prisoners..."

The Libyan Government rejected the allegations about Abu Salim. In May 2005, the Internal Security Agency head of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya told Human Rights Watch that the prisoners captured some guards and stole weapons from the prison cache. The prisoners and guards died as security personnel tried to restore order, and the government opened an investigation on the order of the Minister of Justice. The Libyan official stated that more than 400 prisoners escaped Abu Salim in four separate break-outs prior to and after the incident: in July 1995, December 1995, June 1996 and July 2001. Among the escapees were men who then fought with Islamist militant groups in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq.

In 2009, the Libyan government stated that the killings took place amid confrontation between the government and rebels from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and that some 200 guards were killed as well.[29] In January 2011, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya confirmed that it was carrying out an investigation into the incident along with international investigators.

The Libyan insurgents claimed that 1270 people were buried at a supposed mass grave they discovered.[30] However, investigators from CNN and other organizations found only what appeared to be animal bones at the site.


New York Times article about the weaponizing of Libyan rebels:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/world/africa/weapons-sent-to-libyan-rebels-with-us-approval-fell-into-islamist-hands.html

"American officials say that the United Arab Emirates first approached the Obama administration during the early months of the Libyan uprising, asking for permission to ship American-built weapons that the United States had supplied for the emirates’ use. The administration rejected that request, but instead urged the emirates to ship weapons to Libya that could not be traced to the United States."

“The U.A.E. was asking for clearance to send U.S. weapons,” said one former official. “We told them it’s O.K. to ship other weapons.”

"The case of Marc Turi, the American arms merchant who had sought to provide weapons to Libya, demonstrates other challenges the United States faced in dealing with Libya. A dealer who lives in both Arizona and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Turi sells small arms to buyers in the Middle East and Africa, relying primarily on suppliers of Russian-designed weapons in Eastern Europe."

Mr. Turi’s application for a license was rejected in late March 2011. Undeterred, he applied again, this time stating only that he planned to ship arms worth more than $200 million to Qatar. In May 2011, his application was approved. Mr. Turi, in an interview, said that his intent was to get weapons to Qatar and that what “the U.S. government and Qatar allowed from there was between them.”

Two months later, though, his home near Phoenix was raided by agents from the Department of Homeland Security. Administration officials say he remains under investigation in connection with his arms dealings. The Justice Department would not comment.

Mr. Turi said he believed that United States officials had shut down his proposed arms pipeline because he was getting in the way of the Obama administration’s dealings with Qatar. The Qataris, he complained, imposed no controls on who got the weapons. “They just handed them out like candy,” he said.

Human rights violations and abuses against migrants in Libya: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/LY/DetainedAndDehumanised_en.pdf

"Many migrants have described to UNSMIL and others their time in Libya as “hell”. They have been subjected to arbitrary detention, torture – including rape and sexual violence – and other ill-treatment, unlawful killings, and forced labour."

"According to information received by UNSMIL, armed groups, smugglers and traffickers, private employers, police, the Libyan Coast Guard, and DCIM staff have brought migrants into DCIM detention centres, with no formal registration, no legal process, and no access to lawyers or judicial authorities. Usually their documents and belongings are confiscated. Migrants have been found in detention while still in possession of required documents such as work permits, passports, and visas. Migrants are held indefinitely for periods varying from days to months. The detention of migrants under these circumstances is arbitrary, contravening both Libyan national law and international human rights standards."

A 16 year-old boy from Eritrea told UNSMIL staff that he had travelled through Sudan and Libya to Italy, arriving at Pozallo, Sicily on 28 June 2016. He spent a month and a half in Libya, mostly in a detention facility in Tripoli, after being caught by armed and uniformed men.He could not identify the detention facility where he was held, but described his experience. He was held in a metal hangar with approximately 200 men, women and children who were mainly from Somalia and Eritrea. There were no windows and very little ventilation. There was only one toilet, forcing those detained to use bottles for urination. The odor was overwhelming, and many detainees were ill. Some had scabies and others had breathing problems. They were given very little food. He said, “we black-skinned Africans, we are called animals and are treated as animals.”

"On 29 November, the bodies of 28 migrants were buried in the city of Bani Walid. The bodies were found in the area and the victims appeared to have died from malnutrition. Reports received by UNSMIL indicate that several dead bodies of migrants are found every week in the area. Bani Walid is on one of the smuggling routes from the south to the northern coastal areas."

"A 17-year-old boy from Guinea described how he was detained at the Al-Fallah DCIM centre in Tripoli in November 2015. In the following two months he said that he was handed over by DCIM guards to smugglers for money, returned to the DCIM centre for an unknown reason, and was then handed over to another group of smugglers again for money. While in detention, he witnessed guards beating his friend, a boy from Senegal aged approximately 17, because his friend was too weak to work hard and so could not be sold for forced labour. DCIM guards demanded that his friend call home to ask relatives to transfer money to them. His friend refused, explaining that his family did not have enough money. The guards beat his friend with sticks, kicked, and punched him. He was then left with the other migrants, unable to move and barely breathing. The guards then took him and never brought him back. The boy assumed his friend had died."

"A 27-year-old woman from Cameroon who arrived in Palermo on 22 June 2016, told UNSMIL staff that she left her home to escape forced marri
age. She spent three months in Libya in a number of “connection houses” until she reached Sabrata. She was held there in another “connection house” among approximately 25 women from different African countries. Every night, Libyan men came to choose several women and took them to other rooms where they raped them. If a woman resisted she would be forcibly dragged by the armed men. She said that she was forcibly taken at least five times by the men and raped by one of them. Once she was raped by two men at the same time. The men were armed with guns and knives. She also said that she heard other women and girls screaming while they were being sexually abused. At the time of the interview, she was two months pregnant, the result of being raped."

"A 19-year-old woman, part of a group of four women and 10 men from Eritrea, told UNSMIL staff that she left Khartoum for Libya in the first half of 2016. When they reached Sabha, they were held in a “connection house” where they met the Eritrean smuggler who had arrangedtheir travel from Khartoum. Women and men were housed separately. The woman said that the Eritrean man came to their room and raped her and another woman. He threatened to burn them, not let them travel further, and deliver them to Libyans. He raped them several times. A few days later, they all moved to Al-Shuweiref in small cars, hidden among various goods, and covered by a tarpaulin. They were taken to a farm and the women were kept in a barn. During the night a group of Libyan men broke into the barn and raped the four young women, while men with knives and guns guarded them. This was repeated for three nights until they were moved to Tripoli. The smugglers then arranged their transfer to Sabrata where they stayed for three weeks before boarding a boat to Italy. They reached Italy on 26 June 2016. "

"In November 2016, UNSMIL staff met with 20 Eritrean women and girls who were smuggled into Libya as part of two groups of migrants in June and August 2015. They said that during their journey, armed men stopped one group in Sirte and the other in Nofliya. In both cases, the armed men separated the women and girls from the men. The fate of the men is unknown. One group of women and girls was taken from Sirte to Hrawa and the other from Nofliya to Sirte. During the next three to five months, they were taught about Islam, forced to convert from Christianity, and were then handed over to ISIL fighters. The women and girls said that in the course of the following 12 months, they were repeatedly raped. When they sought to resist they were severely beaten, tied up, and raped again. Those that tried to escape were also beaten and denied food and/or water for periods of up to two days. Several times, they were also handed or “lent” to other men who raped them or forced them to do household chores. Some were provided with contraceptives, upon their request. In September and October 2016, the women and girls managed to escape and were taken to Misrata by the Al-Bunian al-Marsus force which has been fighting groups pledging allegiance to ISIL in Sirte. UNSMIL staff visited the women and girls where theywere being held in Al-Jawiyyah prison in Misrata pending investigation. They wished to applyfor asylum. One of the survivors, a 16-year-old girl, explained that she was pregnant as a result of having been raped by ISIL fighters and was seeking an abortion."