In its second landmark decision against Libya this year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has found Libya responsible for torture and other serious human rights violations. The decision in the case of El Hassy v. Libya, Communication No. 1422/2005 was taken during the 91^st Session of the Human Rights Committee in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr. El Hassy was arbitrarily arrested in 1995, tortured and  detained in a prolonged incommunicado detention at the infamous  Abu Salim prison outside the city of Tripoli.  Mr. El Hassy’s fate or whereabouts still remain unknown more than 11 years after he was first taken into custody by the Libyan authorities. Although it is probable that he was summarily executed in the notorious prison massacre which occurred at Abu Salim in the summer of 1996, the Libyan authorities have refused to acknowledge this fact. Mr. El Hassy’s brother, who brought the complaint, is represented by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) and Human Rights Solidarity.

In its decision, the Human Rights Committee found that the treatment of Mr. El Hassy including his torture and disappearance amounted to violations of the prohibition of torture under Article 7 of the ICCPR and the right of detainees to be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person under Article 10; that his arrest in the absence of a warrant and detention without access to an attorney or any kind of legal process constituted a violation of Article 9; and finally that the Libyan authorities’ failure to account for his fate, or provide his family members with a remedy amounted to violations of Article 2(3). Significantly, in finding that Mr. El Hassy’s disappearance constituted a breach of Article 7, the Committee relied on the definition of “Disappearance” in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Art. 7, paragraph 2(i)).[1]

The decision of the Human Rights Committee in this case is of particular significance because it is one of the first decisions made by an international human rights body that directly concerns the notorious massacre at the Abu Salim prison in 1996.  Scores, possibly hundreds, of political prisoners where arbitrarily executed by the Libyan authoritiesIn its recent Concluding Observations on Libya’s fourth periodic report issued on 30 October 2007, the Human Rights Committee reiterated its demands that Libya conduct an official inquiry into the events in Abu Salim and that a full report be made publicly available as soon as  possible. Although Colonel al-Gaddafi acknowledged for the first time in 2004 that the families of the victims have a right to know abut the fate of their relatives, the Libyan authorities have yet to take any meaningful steps to investigate or account for the killings and no legal remedies have been provided to the victims and their families.

The Human Rights Committee has demanded  that the Libyan authorities to provide Mr. El Hassy’s family with an effective remedy, including the conduction of  a thorough and effective investigation into his disappearance, or his immediate release if he is still alive, and provision of an adequate compensation to his family. Furthermore, the Committee urged the Libyan authorities to prosecute and punish those who are found responsible for the violations and to take adequate measures to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future. Libya was given 180 days to provide the Committee with an account of the measures it has taken to give effect to its ruling.

The Gaddafi regime has never given any complete and public account of the events at the Abu Salim prison in 1996 and has not provided the relatives of the victims with any explanation on the fates or the whereabouts of he victims.. The relatives of the disappeared continue – more than 11 years after the events in question – struggling with the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to their loved ones or whether they are still alive. The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Human Rights Solidarity calls upon the Libyan authorities to take the occasion of this decision to start an effective and independent official inquiry into the events at Abu Salim, to take steps to inform victims’ relatives of the manner and cause of death of their relatives, indicate the location of their remains and grant adequate compensation to their families..

If Libya ever wants to be welcomed to the international community as a full fledged member, it needs to own up to and redress the serious human rights abuses of the past.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a body of 18 independent experts elected by party States to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the ICCPR). The Human Rights Committee is charged with monitoring party States  compliance with the ICCPR which is  an instrument meant o constitute a cornerstone of international human rights protection. Under the First Optional Protocol, the Committee may consider complaints by individuals concerning violations of their civil and political rights by a party State Libya ratified the Optional Protocol on the 16 May 1989 and is consequently under an international legal obligation to abide by the decisions of the Human Rights Committee in individual cases.

For further information please contact:

Boris Wijkström                                                                      Giumma El Omami

OMCT Legal Advisor                                                 Secretary of lhrs

bw@omct.org                                                                         admin@lhrs.ch

  +41793806789