Human Rights Watch has welcomed in a statement that the visit of the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to Libya revives hope for justice for victims of the Kaniyat militia, which controlled the city of Tarhouna between 2019 and 2020.
«Members of the militia, known as Kaniyat, and their affiliates detained, tortured, disappeared and executed people in at least four detention centers while they controlled the city of Tarhouna,» they have denounced.
«They sided with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces under the command of Khalifa Hiftar to attack the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA). No one has been brought to trial for the abuses,» they reproached in the letter.
HRW associate director Hanan Salah argued that if the Libyan authorities cannot be held accountable for the horrors committed against this population, the ICC prosecutor «must investigate crimes within the court’s jurisdiction.»
«The relatives of the hundreds who were arbitrarily detained and tortured, or disappeared and then found in mass graves are still waiting for justice,» he recalled.
The ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Libya since February 15, 2011. In November 2022, ICC prosecutor Karim Jan undertook an official mission to Libya, where he visited the prisons used by Kaniyat and the sites of mass graves, as well as meeting with the victims’ families.
