UAE ‘responsible’ for deaths of dozens of migrants in Libya - confidential report
Tripoli Libya (PANA) - A foreign country is reportedly involved in the missile attack on the reception centre for illegal migrants in the eastern suburbs of Tripoli on 3 July, which killed and injured dozens of people and caused extensive damage to the centre, reports the website of Libyan newspaper El Wassat, published in Cairo, Egypt.
Quoting British Radio, BBC, the newspaper added that according to a confidential report by UN investigators, "a warplane from a foreign country launched a missile against the migrant reception centre in the Tajouera area on the evening of 3 July".
According to the same source, the report did not name the foreign country responsible for the tragedy, but a source close to the investigation accused "the United Arab Emirates" of not wanting to comment on the information provided by the report.
A total of 53 migrants were killed and 130 others wounded in the attack on the centre.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) condemned the attack on the centre, insisting that it could be considered a "war crime".
The UN Special Envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salamé, strongly condemned the act, stating that "it is likely to be clearly treated as a war crime, as it kills innocent people who have found themselves in these places as a result of the precarious situation".
"This stupid war in progress has reached the bloodiest butchery with tragic results," Salamé added.
The majority of migrants killed in central Tajoura came from sub-Saharan countries and were trying to reach Europe through Libya, it was reported.
Hundreds of migrants from African, Asian and Arab countries are living in conditions of absolute precariousness in centres without the minimum subsistence level since the fall of Col. Moammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, that plunged Libya into almost total security chaos.
These migrants arrived in Libya clandestinely, carried by human traffickers, in an attempt to cross the Mediterranean in improvised boats to reach Europe.
The vast majority of them have fled their countries because of armed conflict, poverty due to difficult economic conditions and unemployment.
However, despite the prevailing situation of insecurity, Libya continues to host hundreds of thousands of migrants from several African countries who work in the private sector, agriculture, construction and crafts (carpentry, forging and mechanics).
They share life with Libyans and send money to their relatives back home through complicated and less secure money transfer structures, but faster and more expensive than official banks that can reach up to 30 percent of the transferred amounts.
The number of victims in the centre of Tajoura is considered to be the highest following missile attacks since the beginning of the military campaign launched on 4 April by Marshal Khalifa Haftar to take control of Tripoli and the entire western region of Libya and with the aim of deposing the internationally recognized Libyan Government of National Accord.
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, had at the time strongly condemned the attack on the centre of Tajoura and called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for this crime, which he described as "horrible".
He called for "an independent investigation to ensure the punishment of those responsible for this terrible crime against innocents", reaffirming his "call for an immediate ceasefire and the need for the parties to the conflict to protect civilians, including migrants trapped in detention centres".
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said "this attack would be a war crime, under specific conditions".
The Libyan government of national accord had accused "a United Arab Emirates plane of being responsible for the attack", while Marshal Haftar's army had considered the attack legal before denying its involvement.
"A Commission working within the Security Council has spent several months trying to determine who was responsible for the attack," the BBC said, adding that it was aware of a confidential report that will be presented to the UN body.
The same source stated that the report cites evidence provided by an anonymous source that several "Mirages 9-2000" were used at two bases inside Libya at the time of the attack, indicating that Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which support Marshal Khalifa Haftar, own many Mirages fighting in Libya.
According to "BBC", an Egyptian army spokesman refused to "comment on the information provided by the report before its publication".
The report states that "two bases: Jufra (Central Libya) and Khadem (East) are used by Mirages.
In 2017, the United Nations stated that the United Arab Emirates had created the Khadem base and supported Marshal Haftar, it is recalled.
The report argues that 'it is very likely that the attack is carried out by the use of precisely directed missiles by warplanes belonging to a UN member state that directly supports Marshal Haftar's forces'.
But the report does not mention the name of the country, stating that "the investigation was continuing to obtain more evidence".
The Security Council imposed an embargo on the import of arms into Libya, but the UN envoy has repeatedly stated that "many countries are violating the embargo and providing the parties in conflict with arms and that some of these countries are directly involved in the war".
The Libyan State Council, which is an advisory body under the Skhirat Agreement (Morocco) signed in December 2015, called on the government of national accord to boycott and bring to justice those countries that, in its view, "support an illegal war and are directly involved in the aggression led by the United Arab Emirates" in a statement issued last Monday at the end of its meeting.
-0- PANA AD/IN/JSG/MTA/AR 7Nov2019
