Libyan FM appeals to UNSC for action on crimes committed by pro-Haftar forces
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – Libyan foreign affairs and international cooperation minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Mohamed Siala, has called the UN Security Council (UNSC) to take "firm position’’ on the crimes committed in Tarhouna, southern Tripoli, blamed on Haftar’s forces, particularly after the discovery of several mass graves.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Mr Siala wrote: "The silence of the Security Council and the fact of ignoring the previous appeals of the Government of National Accord to take strong position against the aggression against Tripoli have resulted in what we are seeing today in terms of crimes and the discovery of mass graves in Tarhouna".
He urged the Security Council to "adopt this time strong position to the crimes committed in Tarhouna by Haftar’s militias, which is equivalent to crimes against humanity".
Mr Siala stressed in his tweets that "the number of graves after the crimes committed by Haftar’s militias and those discovered in Tarhouna so far reached eleven, some of the victims were buried alive, among them children and women in a horrible scene representing an insult for humanity".
He also called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) ‘’to take the necessary and urgent measures to investigate the crimes perpetrated by Haftar and his militias in Tarhouna, to make supreme efforts to punish and hold the perpetrators and their leaders responsible before the international justice and to make sure they don’t escape sentences".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday expressed his ‘’indignation with the discovery of several mass graves over the past few days, most of them in Tarhouna’’, calling for ‘’deep and transparent investigation and to bring the perpetrators before courts".
More than 100 bodies bearing marks of bullets and torture were discovered at the hospital morgue after the capture of the city of Tarhouna by the GNA forces.
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) denounced the discovery of 8 mass graves in Tarhouna, demanding investigations from the Libyan authorities to present the perpetrators before courts.
-0- PANA BY/TBM/MSA/AR 14June2020
