Libya’s New Rulers Criticized as Thousands Remain Missing

December 4th, 2011 - by admin

& Noora Faraj / Al Arabiya – 2011-12-04 00:51:10

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/12/2011123164054817905.html

Video Report:
Thousands of Libyans Remain Missing

Anita McNaught / Al Jazeera

TRIPOLI (December 3, 2011) — In early October, Libya’s National Transitional Council set up a commission to help locate those who went missing during the eight-month uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s rule. Families of the missing however say the NTC has done little in the search for the estimated 10,000 people.

Lack of a logistical framework — national databases of the disappeared, outreach to families, search teams, or DNA sampling — makes the search all the more difficult.

Some families have turned to passing out flyers and NGOs have been setup to help register the missing, but they lack the financial resources and official status needed to gain access to military council records.



Libyans Criticize NTC Efforts in Searching for Missing
Noora Faraj / Al Arabiya with Agencies

TRIPOLI (November 30, 2011) — Outside Libya’s Prime Minister’s office dozens of demonstrators on Tuesday urge the government to boost efforts in searching for their loved ones who went missing during the uprising against late leader Muammar Qaddafi.

The protestors expressed their frustration towards the National Transitional Council, who led the revolt and currently govern the country, saying they have been careless in tracking down missing people.

“No government body and no organisation knows anything about him (my husband). They’ve told us to give them a photo and information and if any information comes up they’ll let us know. We have no information, and nobody cares about us,” one woman said.

According to Luis Moreno Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, there are over 20,000 missing people in Libya.

One woman requested humanitarian agencies be given more authority in tracking them down.

The United Nations released a report saying the former rebels and current heads were also responsible for missing people, with around 7,000 Libyans detained and tortured since the new government came into power.

Despite the NTC attempt to transfer detainees, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon urged the standardization of detention and prevention of abuse, along with reducing sentence terms.

Mohammed al-Alagi, Libya’s acting justice minister, has provided the UN Support Mission in Libya a legislative draft on transitional justice to which the mission provided detailed feedback and suggested the civil society be consulted over it.

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