European Parliament petition regarding violation of Human Rights in Libya

Petition No 0405/2017

ŠCÊsar Dezfuli

By Cesar Dezfuli Rello on human rights and right to asylum of migrants in Libya and possible crimes against humanity

Brussels, Belgium. November 23, 2017.

Presentation of the petition in the European Parliament on 23 November, 2017 Committee on Petitions

Bélgica,)Bruselas.)23)de)Noviembre)de)2017)

) ) ) ) Estimados)miembros)de)esta)cámara,)) ) ) Quiero)en)primer)lugar)agradecerles)el)haberme)invitado)hoy)para)presentar)la)petición) que)realicé)hace)varios)meses)a)este)Parlamento,)en)relación)a)la)violación)de)derechos) humanos) contra) migrantes) en) Libia) y) los) posibles) crímenes) contra) la) humanidad) cometidos)en)este)país,))así)como)el)rol)de)las)instituciones)europeas)respecto)a)esta) cuestión.)) ) Procedo)a)presentarles)los)detalles)de)la)misma.)) ) “The)suffering)of)migrants)detained)in)Libya)is)an)outrage)to)the)conscience)of)humanity.)

The)European)Union’s)policy)of)assisting)the)Libyan)coastguard)to)intercept)and)return) migrants) in) the) Mediterranean) is) inhuman.) The) international) community) cannot) continue)to)turn)a)blind)eye)to)the)unimaginable)horrors)endured)by)migrants)in)Libya,) and) pretend) that) the) situation) can) be) remedied) only) by) improving) conditions) in) detention.”) ) Estas)palabras)no)son)mías,)sino)de)Zeid)Ra’ad)alPHussein,)jefe)del)Alto)Comisionado)de) las) Naciones) Unidas) para) los) Derechos) Humanos,) quien) hizo) estas) declaraciones) el) pasado)14)de)Noviembre.)) ) Inicié) esta) petición) hace) aproximadamente) medio) año,) a) título) individual) y) desde) mi) posición) de) ciudadano) europeo,) pero) también) como) periodista,) en) un) momento) de) rabia)contenida)tras)enfrentarme)a)una)serie)de)testimonios)e)imágenes)en)los)que)se) relataban) las) terribles) vulneraciones) de) derechos) humanos) contra) migrantes) que) se) están)cometiendo)a)día)de)hoy)y)que)se)llevan)cometiendo)desde)hace)ya)demasiado) tiempo)en)Libia.)Entendí)entonces)que)mi)obligación)era)la)de)compartir)y)denunciar) estos)hechos.)) ) Numerosas)son)las)pruebas)que)se)han)venido)publicando)en)medios)de)comunicación) internacionales) a) lo) largo) de) este) año,) así) como) las) denuncias) llevadas) a) cabo) por) instituciones)internacionales)como)la)Organización)Internacional)de)Migraciones)(IOM),) las) Naciones) Unidas) (UN),) Amnistía) Internacional) o) Human) Rights) Watch) en) esta) dirección.)Podrán)encontrar)algunas)de)ellas)en)el)dossier)que)hoy)presento.) ) Cuento)en)esta)petición)con)el)respaldo)de)varias)organizaciones)que)han)mantenido)y) mantienen)un)rol)activo)en)la)defensa)de)los)derechos)humanos)en)la)ruta)migratoria) del)Mediterráneo)Central,)y)a)las)que)agradezco)desde)aquí)su)labor)y)su)apoyo.)Estas) son)Médicos)Sin)Fronteras,)Oxfam)Intermon,)Jugend)Rettet,)Sea)Watch)y)Proactiva)Open) Arms.)Algunas)de)ellas)se)dirigen)a)ustedes)con)cartas)que)podrán)encontrar)adjuntas)al) dossier.))

) Señoras)y)señores,)los)hechos)que)están)aconteciendo)en)Libia)requieren)de)su)atención.)

Hablamos)de)persecución,)trabajo)forzoso,)detención)arbitraria,)asesinatos,)violaciones) sexuales) y) torturas) de) migrantes) subsaharianos,) cometidos) en) centros) de) detención) manejados)por)las)redes)de)tráfico)de)personas)que)operan)en)la)región.)) ) Según)un)documento)enviado)al)Ministerio)de)Relaciones)Exteriores)de)Alemania)por)su) embajador)en)Níger,)al)que)hacen)referencia)varios)medios:)“Las)condiciones)para)los) migrantes) y) refugiados) en) Libia) son) peores) que) en) los) campos) de) concentración”.)

Asegura) además) “haber) autenticado) los) informes) de) ejecuciones,) torturas) y) otros) abusos)sistemáticos)de)los)derechos)en)los)campamentos)de)la)ruta)de)refugiados)en) Libia”.) ) En)torno)a)medio)millón)de)migrantes)han)sido)identificados)en)territorio)Libio)por)la) Organización)Internacional)de)Migraciones)en)uno)de)sus)últimos)informes,)fechado)del) 5)de)Noviembre.)No)obstante,)es)presumible)que)esta)cifra)sea)mucho)mayor.)) ) Se)trata)por)lo)tanto)de)cientos)de)miles)de)personas)que)se)encuentran)inmersas)en)lo) que) esta) misma) institución) denunciaba) hace) ya) varios) meses) como) “un) mercado) de) esclavos”.)Hechos)probados)recientemente)por)la)cadena)de)televisión)estadounidense) CNN,)que)publicaba)un)reportaje)en)el)que)se)puede)observar)una)subasta)de)personas) en)Libia.)Esclavitud)a)las)puertas)de)Europa.)) ) “El)74%)de)las)personas)refugiadas)y)migrantes)afirman)haber)sido)testigos)del)asesinato) y/o) tortura) de) alguno) de) sus) compañeros) de) viaje”,) según) un) informe) de) Oxfam) Intermon)del)9)de)agosto)de)2017,)titulado)“You)aren’t)human)any)more".) ) Procedo)a)leerles)dos)de)los)testimonios)recabados)en)Libia)y)que)también)forman)parte) de)este)informe:) ) Chidi,)18)años,)de)Gambia,)habla)sobre)la)tortura)a)la)que)ha)sido)sometido)en)Libia:) ) ‘When)I)had)just)arrived)in)Libya)in)2016)I)was)kidnapped)by)a)gang)that)brought)me) to)the)Zuwarah)prison)in)Sabratha,)where)I)remained)for)about)three)months)with) other)detainees.)Our)captors)gave)us)food)once)a)day)and)regularly)committed)acts) of)torture)and)violence)against)everyone)held)there.)I)was)subjected)to)repeated)acts) of)suspension)torture)–)where)my)hands)were)tied)behind)my)back)and)suspended) by)a)rope)attached)to)the)ceiling)–)and)I)was)continually)beaten)over)the)head.’) ) Jude,) 25) años,) de) Nigeria,) afirmaba) haber) sido) rutinariamente) humillado) durante) su) tiempo)en)prisión:)) ) ‘The)guards)passed)us)food)through)a)slit)in)the)door.)Sometimes)they)came)in)and) punished)and)humiliated)us,)like)obliging)us)to)stand)naked)while)they)were)grabbing) us)by)our)ears.)When)I)was)too)tired)from)overwork,)the)soldiers)would)come)in,) force)me)to)lie)down)and)beat)me)everywhere)with)sticks.)I)saw)lots)of)people) seriously)injured)because)of)the)beatings:)some)were)brought)to)the)hospital)–)some)

others)never)came)back.’) ) En)este)contexto,)y)con)el)objetivo)de)parar)el)flujo)de)llegadas)a)Europa)de)migrantes)a) través)del)Mediterráneo,)que)en)2016)superó)las)180.000)personas)en)esta)ruta,)este) Parlamento,) así) como) los) parlamentos) de) otros) países) europeos) como) Italia) y) Reino) Unido,)han)aprobado)el)pago)y)la)formación)de)la)guardia)costera)Libia)y)del)Gobierno) libio,)externalizando)de)esta)forma)el)control)de)fronteras.)Una)cuestión)que)como)ya) citaba)anteriormente)ha)sido)criticada)recientemente)por)las)Naciones)Unidas,)así)como) por) varias) otras) organizaciones) internacionales.) Cabe) remarcar) que) estos) pagos) van) dirigidos)al)gobierno)libio)reconocido)por)la)comunidad)internacional,)uno)de)los)tres) gobiernos)con)los)que)cuenta)el)país)y)cuyo)control)del)territorio)libio)es)notablemente) reducido.)Libia)es)un)estado)fallido.) ) Y)yo)pregunto)a)esta)cámara.)) ) ¿Es)sostenible)la)externalización)de)las)fronteras)europeas)a)largo)plazo?)) ) ¿Se)ha)contemplado)un)posible)escenario)de)chantaje)y)aumento)de)exigencias)por)parte) de)esos)terceros)países)a)los)que)se)está)encargando)el)control)de)nuestras)fronteras?) ) ¿Hay) constancia) de) que) el) dinero) que) se) está) entregando) a) este) Gobierno) libio) vaya) destinado)al)control)migratorio,)teniendo)en)cuenta)el)conflicto)armado)en)el)que)se) encuentra)el)país?) ) ¿Puede) este) parlamento) estar) incurriendo) en) la) financiación) directa) o) indirecta) de) grupos)armados?)) ) ¿Es)legítimo)financiar)a)un)gobierno)que)no)cuenta)con)un)respaldo)social)ni)un)control) territorial)de)su)propio)país?)) ) ¿Están)las)instituciones)europeas)quebrantando)acuerdos)internacionales)de)derecho)al) asilo)al)financiar)y)colaborar)en)la)devolución)de)migrantes)y)potenciales)solicitantes)de) asilo)a)un)territorio)en)conflicto,)considerado)un)territorio)no)seguro?) ) ¿Están) los) guarda) costas) libios) actuando) de) acuerdo) al) respeto) de) los) derechos) humanos?) ) ¿Se)está)garantizando)que)el)retorno)a)tierra)de)quienes)tratan)de)huir)de)Libia)por)vía) marítima)supone)llevar)a)los)migrantes)retornados)a)lugares)seguros,)donde)se)respetan) los)derechos)humanos?) ) Permítame)que)les)haga)constancia)de)algunos)de)los)informes)que)se)incluyen)en)esta) petición,)donde)se)denuncian)las)terribles)condiciones)en)los)centros)de)detención)en) Libia) donde) los) migrantes) son) retornados,) así) como) la) devolución) de) algunos) de) los) migrantes)a)las)redes)de)tráfico)de)personas.)) )

Permítanme)señalar)también)que)ONGs)de)salvamento)marítimo,)hoy)cuestionadas)y) perseguidas)por)el)Gobierno)Italiano)en)una)campaña)de)desprestigio)de)su)labor)de) salvar) vidas,) han) experimentando) ataques) de) los) guardacostas) libios) en) aguas) internacionales,)durante)el)proceso)de)rescate)de)embarcaciones)con)migrantes,)que) han)supuesto)en)algunos)casos)la)pérdida)de)vidas)en)el)mar.)Algunos)de)estos)incidentes) vienen)detallados)también)en)este)informe.)) ) Las)cifras)de)migrantes)rescatados)y)trasladados)a)Italia)este)año)finalmente)van)a)ser) inferiores)a)las)del)año)anterior.)El)objetivo)se)ha)cumplido.)Pero,)¿a)qué)precio?)) ) ¿Es) legítimo) bloquear) la) vía) de) escape) marítima) de) migrantes) mientras) no) se) salvaguarde)su)seguridad)física)en)Libia)y))unas)vías)alternativas)de)salida)del)país)para) estas)personas?) ) Es)evidente)que)nadie)quiere)que)seres)humanos)sigan)perdiendo)su)vida)en)el)mar.)Pero) de) la) misma) forma) no) es) adecuado) que) las) vidas) de) miles) de) migrantes) continúen) estando)en)riesgo)en)territorio)libio.)Que)haya)personas)que)sigan)siendo)torturadas)y) asesinadas) por) las) mafias) de) tráfico) de) personas.) Esas) pérdidas) humanas) son) tan) terribles) como) las) que) acontecen) en) el) mar.) Aunque) claro,) no) hay) nadie) para) documentarlo.)Tal)vez)esto)sea)algo)a)tener)en)cuenta.)) ) Esta)es)una)crisis)humanitaria)de)gran)envergadura)que)requiere)de)respuestas)políticas) que)estén)a)la)altura)de)ella,)a)la)altura)de)los)valores)sobre)los)que)estas)instituciones) se)construyeron.)) ) El)Tratado)de)Lisboa)recoge)como)valores)fundamentales)de)la)Unión)Europea)el)respeto) a)la)dignidad)humana,)la)libertad,)la)democracia,)la)igualdad)y)los)derechos)humanos)y) establece) que) la) Unión) tiene) como) finalidad) promover) la) paz) y) el) bienestar) de) sus) pueblos.)¿Dónde)quedan)hoy)aquellos)principios?) ) Europa)no)puede)permanecer)callada.)Su)silencio)e)inacción)ante)estos)terribles)hechos) implica)complicidad.)) ) Invito)a)este)Parlamento)a)iniciar)las)investigaciones)oportunas)que)esclarezcan)lo)que) está)ocurriendo)en)Libia)en)relación)a)las)sistemáticas)violaciones)de)derechos)humanos) contra)migrantes.)A)que)se)cuestionen)los)acuerdos)firmados)con)Libia,)mientras)no)se) pueda) asegurar) la) integridad) física) de) las) personas) afectadas.) A) que) se) planteen) acuerdos)internacionales)para)una)evacuación)urgente)de)los)migrantes)atrapados)en) Libia)hacia)terceros)países)seguros.)Y)que)se)trabaje)de)forma)inteligente))y)con)visión)a) largo)plazo)en)la)lucha)contra)las)redes)de)tráfico)de)personas.)) ) Consigan) así) que) la) Unión) Europea) vuelva) a) ser) un) referente) en) la) defensa) de) los) derechos)humanos.)) ) ) Muchas)gracias.))

César)Dezfuli))

Text of the petition addressed to this Parliament on 4 May 2017

To whom it may concern, I´m Cesar Dezfuli, Spanish photojournalist. I´ve been working on migrations in Europe during the last three years, covering the migrations route through the Balkans, the situation of asylum seekers in several European countries as Spain, Hungary or Germany, and since one year with the focus on the Central Mediterranean route, following the stories if rescued migrants once they are in Europe.

I´m writing you to share with you some of the information I obtained while interviewing dozens of migrants rescued from the see during the last years, regarding the situation they face in Libya before they have the chance to get on board of a boat to risk their life in their way to Europe. And I´m sending attached some pictures, which some of the migrants received from the relatives and friends they still have in Libya awaiting for their chance to scape, which probably will be more clear than my words.

What is happening in Libya nowadays against black people, sub-Saharan, needs a soon reaction to prevent that it remains happening, and that in the future, we, Europe, will not need to regret for being apart and not taking action to stop it, as we are partly responsible of the current situation in Libya.

Sub-Saharan migrants are persecuted, sold, kidnapped, exploited laborally in slavery conditions, murdered (massively in some occasions), jailed, tortured and extorted until their families make a payment to the smugglers that allow them to leave the jail and be sent to the next smugglers that will let them take the boats to Europe after a new payment, and without any possibility to go back in case they would want to do it. They get trapped in the middle of a chaotic country as Libya, where thousands of people from different part of Africa used to go to find a job before the war started, and that now has become a nightmare for those who keep going there with the same purpose, in some cases as a first step before heading to Europe, in other cases with the same purpose as before, finding a new life and a job far from the realities they are escaping from in their countries of origin.

As a journalist I try to inform society about this facts, but sometimes this is not enough as requires higher actions. This is why I decided to forward this letter to you. I encourage you to go to any of the asylum centres in Italy and speak with any of the asylum seekers who are staying there and who managed to scape from Libya in the last months. Or to get on board of any rescue vessel in the Mediterranean and see by yourself how is the situation in which migrants are when they are rescued. They would explain you very well the situation they faced in Libya. It´s not only about the risk they face while crossing the see. You would see in their physical condition the place they are escaping from. You would learn about it from their words. When they arrive to Libya, the problems that made them run away from their country of origin take a second place, because of the high risks, the persecution, they experience in Libya. You would soon realize about this reality; you would understand by yourself.

I encourage the European Parliament, and all its Parliamentarians and Commissioners to make a research on this question, and to make a step further on investigating this situation, a situation that deeply concerns the European Union and the European society, as I think we, Europeans, have to stand on the support of Human Rights, and against any act against humanity, specially concerning the recent history of our continent.

When I see that there is no public information about this topic, no international statements against this facts, I question myself what is the role of these international institutions we are funding and expecting to take an active role when something like this happen. But specially when I get to know that the European Union is funding the armed groups in Libya and their ‘coast guards’ to prevent the departure of boats with migrants on board as a solution to this migratory crisis, while these armed groups can´t be considered as representative of any official Government, neither guarantors of human rights, since there is not a representative Government in the country since the beginning of their civil war already more than six years ago, and since there are proves that relate these armed groups to the human trafficking networks working in the Arab country.

It has been published lately a report from IOM, denouncing this situation, but it didn´t develop in any further step and it has been quickly forbidden by the public opinion. You can find it here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39567632 Thank you for your attention.

Best Regards, Cesar Dezfuli

Letters of support to this petition The NGOs MÊdecins sans frontières, Sea Watch and Jugend Rettet, who have an active role in the maritime rescue of migrants on the Central Mediterranean route, support this petition through the following letters that address to the members of this Parliament.

Berlin, 17th of November 2017 Petition No 0405/2017 by Cesar Dezfuli Rello on human rights and right to asylum of migrants in Libya and possible crimes against humanity

To whom it may concern, We, the undersigned, Jugend Rettet e.V. and Sea-Watch e.V., would like to express our strong interest that the Members of the European Parliament are addressing the insufficient protection of migrants within Libya, emphasising the publically known inhuman and catastrophic conditions of the local detention camps. Thus, cases of persecution, forced labour, arbitrary detention, slavery, killings, rapes and torture of Sub-Saharan migrants transiting through Libya on their way to Europe via the Central Mediterranean route are sadly pre-dominant. Through our work, we oppose the humanitarian catastrophe at sea and Europe’s collective failure at its external borders. Through our work, we protest the militarisation of borders, the increasing violence migrants face at sea and call for change in European politics.

Therefore, the on-going support of the European Union of the so-called Libyan Coast Guard are a matter of concern to us as search and rescue organisations operating along the deadliest route of migration and refuge. Throughout our sea rescue operations, we are witnessing the pain, the trauma, the injuries caused by torture and sexual violence by thousands of migrants in need for protection.

Their right to life and safety is increasingly threatened by diverse actors within Libya at land as well as by the Libyan Coast Guard’s actions (due to tactics of interceptions, d violations of the nonrefoulement principle, and severe violations of the universal human rights) in international waters.

We hereby condemn any further cooperation between the European Union’s governments and Libya aiming to prevent human mobility of thousands of people who are facing life-threatening conditions within the country marked by violent turmoil and civil war. If the European Union is funding, equipping and training a Libyan Coast Guard sealing their borders, we must stress the importance of international humanitarian law as well as the international law of the sea and any nations’ duty to assure compliance with the international recognised legal framework. The European Union must be accountable for its choice of cooperation as well as the underlying strategy to decrease migratory movements towards European shores no matter the price. Moreover, in respect to the variety of incidents whereby the Libyan Coast Guard neglected human rights at sea and put many lives in danger by brutal and negligent behaviour, as of the event of the November 6th, which caused the loss of life of approximately fifty individuals, such actions must be followed by consequences. We acknowledge the role of the Libyan Coast Guard saving lives during rescue operations, but their reckless behaviour while trying to ‘pull back’ as many migrants as possible to Libya have repeatedly caused more harm than help. However, it has to be set in context of the European willingness to securitise its borders, disrespecting international conventions on human rights including the access to asylum.

We urge the governments of the European Union, who cannot continue to turn a blind eye on the unspeakable crimes which cause pain, suffering and death of migrants within Libya. Also, the political leaders cannot keep on being silent in the face of the incidents in the Mediterranean, especially when lives of people are at stake and lost. People, that we all as the international community, are obliged to protect.

Sincerely Jugend Rettet e.V. Sea-Watch e.V.

GRAPHIC CONTENT The following images have been obtained from social networks groups and mobile messages in which migrants arrived in Europe receive this material from those relatives or friends of them who are still in Libya. Its origin could not been contrasted, there is no possibility to prove it and there is no possibility to document this reality from a contrasted source given the risks and the impossibility of access, although the testimonies I have been collecting from people who have managed to leave the reclusion centers controled by human trafficking networks certify that these facts are currently happening in Libyan territory.

In the following images you can see the next facts: - Mass graves in which migrants who have either died or been killed (it is impossible to prove) on the Libyan migratory route are buried.

- Images of people tortured in the reclusion centers managed by human trafficking mafias. As well as dead bodies in these centers.

I would like to stress the fact that these images refer to centers supposedly managed by human trafficking mafias.

The next photographs were collected by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in which you can see the conditions in which migrants are held while they are being held by the human trafficking mafias in Libya. Published in the Spanish media El PaĂ­s (first) and Public (second).

Screenshot of the report from CNN that proves the “slave markets� that exist in Libya, in which migrants are sold as a work force, as part of the business of human trafficking networks and that demonstrates the vulnerability in which migrants are while in Libyan territory.

This had been previously denounced by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which in April 2017 already denounced it through this report: https://www.iom.int/news/iom-learns-slave-market-conditions-endangering-migrants-north-africa http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/11/13/libya-migrant-slave-auction-lon-orig-mdejk.cnn

Migrants in the areas under ‘Libyan recognized Governmet’ control Graphic coverage of photojournalist Narciso Contreras, who has documented the conditions inside the detention centers run by Libyan authorities, as well as the reality of migration in Libyan territory. Published by Time magazine, among other media. Here the link to the publication: http://time.com/4538519/libya-human-trafficking/

REPORTS IN WHICH THIS PETITION IS SUPPORTED

LIBYA: A COUNTRY IN WAR. AN UNSAFE COUNTRY. UN human rights chief: Suffering of migrants in Libya outrage to conscience of humanity http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22393&LangID=E GENEVA (14 November) – The UN Human Rights chief today expressed dismay at the sharp increase in the number of migrants held in horrific conditions at detention facilities in Libya, saying the European Union’s policy of assisting the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept and return migrants in the Mediterranean was inhuman.

“The suffering of migrants detained in Libya is an outrage to the conscience of humanity,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said. “What was an already dire situation has now turned catastrophic.

“The detention system for migrants in Libya is broken beyond repair,” said Zeid. “Only alternatives to detention can save migrants’ lives and physical security, preserve their dignity and protect them from further atrocities.

“The international community cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the unimaginable horrors endured by migrants in Libya, and pretend that the situation can be remedied only by improving conditions in detention,” he said, calling for the creation of domestic legal measures and the decriminalisation of irregular migration to ensure the protection of migrants’ human rights.

According to Libya’s Department of Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM) 19,900 people were being held in facilities under its control in early November, up from about 7,000 in mid-September when authorities detained thousands of migrants following armed clashes in Sabratha, a smuggling and trafficking hub, about 80 kilometres west of Tripoli.

The EU and Italy are providing assistance to the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept migrant boats in the Mediterranean, including in international waters, despite concerns raised by human rights groups that this would condemn more migrants to arbitrary and indefinite detention and expose them to torture, rape, forced labour, exploitation and extortion. Those detained have no possibility to challenge the legality of their detention, and no access to legal aid.

“The increasing interventions of the EU and its member states have done nothing so far to reduce the level of abuses suffered by migrants,” the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights said. “Our monitoring, in fact, shows a fast deterioration in their situation in Libya.”

From 1-6 November, UN human rights monitors visited four DCIM facilities in Tripoli, where they interviewed detainees who have fled conflict, persecution and extreme poverty from states across Africa and Asia.

“Monitors were shocked by what they witnessed: thousands of emaciated and traumatized men, women and children piled on top of each other, locked up in hangars with no access to the most basic necessities, and stripped of their human dignity,” Zeid said.

“Many of those in detention have already been exposed to trafficking, kidnappings, torture, rape and other sexual violence, forced labour, exploitation, severe physical violence, starvation and other atrocities in the course of their journeys through Libya, often at the hands of traffickers or smugglers.”

A man held in Tarik al-Matar DCIM centre, where some 2,000 migrants were packed into a hangar without functioning toilets, told UN staff: “We are like a box of matches, we don’t sleep, we have diseases, we lack food, we didn’t shower for months. We will all die if not saved from this place, this is Calvary, it is excessively difficult to survive the smell of faeces and urine, many are [lying] unconscious on the floor.”

Men, women and children held at DCIM centres recounted beatings at the hands of the guards. “They beat us every day, they use electric sticks, just because we ask for food or [medical] treatment or for information about what will happen to us,” a migrant from Cameroon told monitors.

Women recounted rape and other sexual violence at the hands of smugglers and guards. A woman from Cote d’Ivoire told UN staff that during her journey: “Armed men came in and chose six women, including me, and took us out one by one. When I first refused, I was slapped and a gun was pointed at my head. Four men raped me outside. I was in early stages of pregnancy, I bled profusely, and I think I lost the baby. I haven’t seen a doctor yet.”

In another case, a Sub-Saharan African woman said, “I was taken away from the DCIM centre and raped in a house by three men including a DCIM guard.

The UN Human Rights Office urges the Libyan authorities to take concrete steps to stamp out human rights violations and abuses in centres under their control, to remove those reasonably suspected of carrying out violations, to investigate and prosecute those responsible, and publicly signal that such abuses will no longer be tolerated. It also calls for migrants not to be detained and that all centres be open.

“We cannot be a silent witness to modern day slavery, rape and other sexual violence, and unlawful killings in the name of managing migration and preventing desperate and traumatized people from reaching Europe’s shores,” said Zeid.

International Criminal Court statement

The International Criminal Court denounces serious human rights violations in Libya Full document attached to the next link: https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/item.aspx?name=otp_lib_unsc References to the situation of migrants in the next points:

“Conditions for migrants and refugees in Libya are worse than in concentration camps” 21/11/2017

German report details Libya abuses amid pressure to stem migrant flows | World news | The Guardian

German report details Libya abuses amid pressure to stem migrant flows Embassy in Niger verifies reports of rights abuses including executions in camps as Italy demands action to halt crossings Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor Monday 30 January 2017 09.05 GMT

Conditions for migrants and refugees in Libya are worse than in concentration camps, according to a paper sent to the German foreign ministry by its ambassador in Niger.

The German embassy in Niger has authenticated reports of executions, torture and other systematic rights abuses in camps on the refugee route in Libya, Die Welt cited the report as saying on Sunday.

The warning came as EU leaders prepare for a summit in Malta on Friday to discuss ways to control migration across the Mediterranean from Africa this summer, amid pressure from Italy to take decisive action.

Similar evidence of atrocities in Libya have been emerging from in a court case in Milan brought by the Italian state against a leading smuggler.

The situation in Libya underlines the need for the EU to persuade the country’s leaders to allow UN access to set up refugee processing centres before pressing ahead with a tougher policy of sending back migrants found on boats heading for Italy. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/30/german-report-libya-abuses-pressure-migrant-flows

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German report details Libya abuses amid pressure to stem migrant flows | World news | The Guardian

Leading Italian politicians have said action to stem the flow of migrants is critical if the country is to stave off the growth of populist parties.

The Germany embassy in Niger said in a diplomatic cable that authentic cellphone photos and videos substantiated reports of concentration camp-like conditions in private prisons operated by people smugglers.

“There are executions of countless migrants, torture, rapes, bribery and banishment to the desert on a daily basis,” the report says.

Witnesses spoke of five executions a week in one prison, designed to free up space for new migrants and increase smugglers’ revenues.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said the EU cannot strike a Turkey-style deal in which the Libyan government would be given substantial EU donations in return for keeping people in Libya.

The chaotic state of the UN-backed Libyan government in Tripoli makes such donations impossible at this stage The UK foreign office has been concerned by reports of conditions in camps in Libya, but access is near impossible due to a lack of security and the failure of the UN-backed government to develop its authority outside a small part of Tripoli.

UK diplomats acknowledge the danger is that tens of thousands of Africans will be forced back into Libya, with no effective detention centres in place. One idea is for the EU to finance camps in Africa so the UN refugee agency and charities could process migrants and prevent them from trying to cross the Mediterranean.

At the summit the EU is proposing to train a Libyan military coast guard to operate inside Libyan coastal waters and force the boats back. Similar proposals have been tabled in the past.

It is not possible legally for EU patrols operating outside Libyan coastal waters to turn ships around once they are on the high seas. On Friday, the Italians rescued 1,000 people at risk of drowning.

The sea crossing from Libya to Italy has become the main access route for migrants and refugees. A record 181,000 people reached Italy on the route last year.

Italy fears another surge in crossings this year. Italian ministers have insisted they will not allow Italy to become a hotspot for refugees, and want agreements from other EU states that they will take some of the people who reach Italian shores.

Topics Libya Migration and development Migration Italy European Union Refugees news

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/30/german-report-libya-abuses-pressure-migrant-flows

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According to the data provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in one of its last reports, dated November 5, 2017, there are currently 416,556 migrants identified in Libya. This assumes that presumably the figure is much higher.

Full report here: https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/mission_newsletter/file/Libya_MN_20171024-1105.pdf

Report of OXFAM INTERMON which details testimonies about the abuses committed against migrants in Libya.

9 August 2017.

OXFAM MEDIA BRIEFING 9 August 2017

Jamal, 23, from Mogadishu (Somalia) looks out across the ocean after fleeing al-Shabab militiamen and taking a harrowing journey through Libya. He arrived in Italy in late May 2016. Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam

‘You aren’t human any more’ Migrants expose the harrowing situation in Libya and the impact of European policies

Background Thousands of refugees and migrants face kidnap, slavery, torture and sexual violence in Libya before crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Italy – if they are not killed first.

Oxfam has spoken to men and women who have spent months being beaten, tied up like animals and sold as cheap labour in Libya’s shocking slave trade. Women are at an extremely high risk of physical and sexual violence, and men also speak of rape. For many, the hazardous escape from Libya across the Mediterranean is not a choice, but a matter of survival, even if it is against the odds. But due to EU governments’ flawed policies that aim to prevent people getting to Italy, thousands are trapped in the living hell that is Libya. The EU is meant to be a bastion of human rights: EU member states should ensure that migrants arrive safely in Europe where they can have access to a fair and transparent process for claiming asylum.

Introduction Since April last year, 1 the Central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy has become the major port of entry for migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe. More than 180,000 people arrived in Italy via this route in 2016. 2 Over 95,000 people have already arrived so far this year. 3 Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has become an unstable state torn between militias with a weak central government. It is a breeding ground for gangs who kidnap, enslave and extort money from migrants, and people-smugglers who force their human cargo onto unseaworthy vessels in the knowledge they may never arrive at their destination. This report draws on the distressing testimonies of 258 4 migrants who spent time in Libya before escaping to Italy.

The European Union’s approach since 2015 has prioritized policies and measures designed to deter people coming to Europe by sea, ensuring they do not leave Libya. The February 2017 agreement between the Italian and Libyan governments is a case in point, as it would see more detention facilities set up in Libya to house migrants before being repatriated.

Since people’s human rights are routinely ignored in Libya, as these testimonies show, it is up to Italian and EU governments to ensure that more people are not put in danger by being sent back to or imprisoned in the country. They must ensure that refugees can flee from danger and reach Europe, where they can have access to a fair and transparent process for claiming asylum. Measures like the recent French proposal to open processing centres on Libyan soil risk entrapping more people in a lawless and dangerous state. In addition, the EU should be investing in providing safe and regular routes for migrants and genuine development in countries of origin, instead of putting up fences and obstacles.

Fortress Europe In February 2017, the Italian and Libyan governments signed an agreement to reduce the number of people leaving Libya to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The agreement, endorsed by EU heads of state and government at the informal Malta Summit, stipulated that migrants would be held in camps in Libya subsidized by the Italian government while awaiting repatriation to their country of origin. The agreement would see migrants being detained in Libya where they would be vulnerable to violence and other forms of abuse. 5 Limiting the number of people arriving in Italy seems to be at the core of the Code of Conduct drawn up by the Italian government in July, and endorsed by the EU to regulate search and rescue operations conducted by NGOs. This would ban NGO rescue ships from entering Libyan territorial waters, using lights to signal their location, or communicating with smugglers by phone to locate sinking vessels and save people from drowning. Under the proposed Code of Conduct, Italian armed police officers would be allowed to board the vessels and NGOs would be obliged to actively participate in anti-smuggling activities. Many NGOs are worried these last two points affect their humanitarian mandate and ability to focus on saving lives. They are also concerned about the requirement to take extra days to return people directly to ports instead of transferring people between rescue ships. These are among the reasons why these NGOs have refused to sign up to the Code of Conduct. 6 The Italian decision on 2 August to send a naval mission to support the capacity of the Libyan coastguard to stop boats leaving Libya is the latest attempt to keep people from reaching Europe. Bringing them back to Libyan shores creates a vicious cycle where desperate people try repeatedly to escape abuse and death, and European forces prevent them from doing so.

The approach the EU is taking towards the Central Mediterranean route is based on the March 2016 deal between the EU and Turkey. Under its terms, Turkey agreed to stop 2

migrants from crossing the sea to the Greek Islands in return for €3bn to deal with Syrian refugees living on Turkish soil. Dubbed the ‘one in one out’ scheme, a Syrian refugee on the Greek Islands would be returned to Turkey, and in exchange, a Syrian asylum seeker in Turkey would be resettled in Europe. Oxfam, along with other NGOs, has criticized the granting of aid in exchange for managing migration flows towards Europe. This is because it effectively outsources the problem by pushing Europe’s borders to other countries.

The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa7 also shows how the EU is trying to keep migration at arm’s length. By encouraging development money to be spent on measures to reduce mobility at the borders of African countries, the EU is effectively moving its borders so they are out of sight and out of mind. This is a move away from development aid’s actual purpose, which is to improve opportunities in developing countries, combat poverty and promote sustainable development. In some cases, the present policy goes against the wishes of African countries, resulting in refugee camps with extremely low standards. For example, in May 2017, the Italian Minister for the Interior Marco Minniti signed an agreement with the governments of Niger and Chad for the opening of refugee camps in these two countries, but there was no mention of any guarantee to respect the human rights of people within these facilities. It comes as no surprise then, that in 2016, the EU Trust Fund included just one project for increasing regional legal migration in Africa, while investment in preventing irregular migration and facilitating returns and readmission was more than 60 times higher. 8 These are just some of the examples of the European Union’s attempts to slam the door on people trying to flee war and escape poverty.

‘The cell was full of dead bodies’ When migrants arrive on the shores of Sicily, Oxfam is there providing food, clothes, shoes and personal hygiene kits, as well as longer-term psychological and legal support. Oxfam Italy also helps asylum seekers find accommodation and learn Italian, and gives them cash to meet their basic needs.

The 258 testimonies gathered by Oxfam’s partners MEDU (Doctors for Human Rights) and Borderline Sicilia, in two separate data gathering projects, paint a shocking picture of the conditions endured by people during their time in Libya. Of the 158 interviews with migrants (31 women and 127 men) gathered by Oxfam and MEDU in Sicily between October 2016 and April 2017, 9 the vast majority had experienced some form of degrading treatment: • • • • • •

All but one woman interviewed had suffered sexual violence.

74 percent said they had witnessed the murder and/or torture of a travelling companion.

84 percent said they had suffered inhuman or degrading treatment, extreme violence or torture.

70 percent said they had been tied up.

80 percent said they had been denied food and water during their stay.

60 percent had been deprived of medical care.

Sexual violence *All names have been changed to protect identities.

Hamza, 30, from Morocco, told how he almost died fighting off a gang who tried to rape him: ‘I was detained by an armed gang while I was walking down the street in Tripoli.

They hooded me and brought me to an underground prison. They asked me to demand a ransom from my family. They beat and wounded me several times with a knife. I still have the scars. I have no more strength in my forearms and they still 3

bother me. A muscle in my left arm was completely torn due to the maltreatment. I was on the verge of dying because of the beatings I endured to resist the traffickers who wanted to rape me. They regularly raped men. I have seen all kinds of sexual violence.’

Esther, 28, from Nigeria, recalls how she was locked up in Zawia prison, with her sister, for around five months: ‘Men in uniform were violent and armed with guns, iron bars and sticks. They asked for blackmail money. I was beaten on every part of my body and forced to collaborate in sexual violence perpetrated against the other women. I have scars on my head and right arm. I lost my poor little child who was in my womb due to the beatings I suffered, and my sister died from the beatings and abuse. I lost a lot of blood without receiving any kind of help.’

Torture Lamine, 18, from Senegal told how he was imprisoned in a cell in Tripoli alongside dead bodies: ‘When I was captured, they hit me with a rifle on my head. I started bleeding and I fainted. When I woke up I thought I was dead. There was blood everywhere. I found myself in a cell with other people… The cell was full of dead bodies. I saw soldiers breaking the nose of one guy and beating him so seriously on his head that he lost his eyes. They broke my finger and cut my left leg with a knife. I remained there for three weeks, then one day when no one was watching I managed to escape through the bathroom window.’

18-year-old Chidi from Gambia spoke of the torture he was subjected to: ‘When I had just arrived in Libya in 2016 I was kidnapped by a gang that brought me to the Zuwarah prison in Sabratha, where I remained for about three months with other detainees. Our captors gave us food once a day and regularly committed acts of torture and violence against everyone held there. I was subjected to repeated acts of suspension torture – where my hands were tied behind my back and suspended by a rope attached to the ceiling – and I was continually beaten over the head.’

Slave labour Banna, 28, from Gambia, said he was forced to work when he could not pay the smugglers the ransom they demanded: ‘They told us to give them money and to ask our families to pay a ransom, otherwise we wouldn’t be released. I didn’t have the money, nor family I could ask. They forced me to work. I was made to do any kind of work, sometimes they brought me to do robberies at night. There was hardly any food. They beat me continuously and violently, sometimes they tortured me. After suffering all the violence and torture, I now have problems moving my arms and get intense headaches. My eyesight has worsened as they often beat me in the face. I was imprisoned for seven months until the prison was attacked one day by a rival gang and I managed to escape during the conflict. Many people were left dead or seriously injured.’

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20-year-old Moustapha from Senegal told how he realized he had been sold when he saw men exchanging money: ‘There were 29 of us delivered to a Libyan who locked us in a small room where there was nothing for about 20 days. I was only able to get out because they made me cook for the other prisoners. They also forced me to do other jobs. One day I saw seven, maybe eight, people forced to get into a car. The man who drove the car gave money to the Libyans who imprisoned them. I saw other prisoners forced by torture, plastic melted onto their bodies, to call their families for money. I underwent torture and maltreatment. But one day I managed to escape, along with three others, when I was allowed to go and cook. In front of us was only desert.’

Held captive 18-year-old Peter from Nigeria was imprisoned in a house with 300 others. He said: ‘Once we had arrived at Sabah in Libya, I was taken to the 'Ghetto', which was a huge house without any windows and with more than 300 Africans held inside. It was terrible: someone died every day, there wasn't enough room to sleep, there wasn't any drinking water and the food was all off. They gave us a phone to call our families and told us to ask them for money. If you couldn’t pay the 1,500 Libyan dinars (€1,000 or almost £900), they kept you inside and beat you. I met some people who had been there for six months because they couldn't pay. I saw five people die in the Ghetto because of the lack of food and from gunshot wounds, which were very common. I was there for three weeks until a friend of mine paid the ransom for me – and I was released.’

25-year-old Jude from Nigeria said he was routinely humiliated during his time in a prison in Banjul: ‘The guards passed us food through a slit in the door. Sometimes they came in and punished and humiliated us, like obliging us to stand naked while they were grabbing us by our ears. When I was too tired from overwork, the soldiers would come in, force me to lie down and beat me everywhere with sticks. I saw lots of people seriously injured because of the beatings: some were brought to the hospital – some others never came back.’

Death at sea Since the fall of Colonel Gaddafi in 2011, the journey from Libya to Italy across the Mediterranean has been run by smugglers who have no regard for the safety of their passengers.

19-year-old male Emmanuel from Ivory Coast witnessed people dying on the boat he was travelling on: ‘We finally left for Italy on a boat. They made us leave at night and eventually we got to the beach. They put 135 of us onto one rubber boat, driven by a Libyan. When it left the beach, the boat was already taking on water. Some people died. By the time we were rescued, the tip of the boat had completely deflated. The sea was very rough. We were rescued after a day by a big ship. Some people drowned while trying to get on the rescue ship. Then the Coast Guard arrived, who finished off the rescue, keeping everyone safe.’

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Conclusion and recommendations European policies will continue to fail if they do not take into account the experiences of people forced to flee from war and persecution and to escape poverty, and thousands more will die trying to reach safety. As these testimonies show, Libya continues to be a country marked by systematic human rights abuses committed by traffickers, smugglers, militias and bands of criminals.

The European Union’s attempt to ensure people are unable to leave Libya puts more men, women and children at risk of abuse and exploitation.

Based on these accounts, Oxfam recommends: •

• • •

The EU and its member states should refrain from signing agreements that try to stop people in danger from leaving Libya by sea. Search and rescue operations serve a humanitarian purpose and should not be undermined by political pressure to stop migration.

The processing of asylum applications must take place in a safe and secure environment. European countries should take their fair share of asylum seekers and allow vessels with anyone saved at sea to reach European shores.

Once asylum seekers have arrived in Europe, more EU member states should offer to process their applications, so that Italy is not shouldering the responsibility alone.

Finally, the EU and its member states should create more safe routes for migrants so they are not forced to risk their lives in Libya and by crossing the Mediterranean.

Seasonal labour visas and humanitarian visas that protect refugees from persecution are examples of potential solutions.

Notes 1 UNHCR. (2017). Desperate Journeys: Refugees and migrants entering and crossing Europe via the Mediterranean and Western Balkans routes, page 6. Available from: http://www.unhcr.org/58b449f54 2 Ibid.

3 UNHCR. (2017). Operational Portal: Refugee Situations. Mediterranean Situation. Available from: http://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean/location/5205 4 This media briefing is based on two sets of interviews: Borderline Sicilia collected 100 interviews between July 2016 and April 2017 in Sicily, and MEDU collected 158 interviews between October 2016 and April 2017 in Sicily.

While the report contains testimonies from both sets of interviews, MEDU has extracted data on the type of abuses, which migrants have experienced themselves or have witnessed.

5 Oxfam International. (2017, 2 February). EU-Libya plans shine spotlight on European duplicity. https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-02-02/eu-libya-plans-shine-spotlight-european-duplicity 6 MSF. (2017, 31 July). MSF committed to saving lives on Mediterranean but will not sign the Italian “Code of Conduct”. http://www.msf.org/en/article/msf-committed-saving-lives-mediterranean-will-not-sign-italian%E2%80%9Ccode-conduct%E2%80%9D 7 Set up officially in November 2015, at the Summit of La Valletta (11–12 November).

8 Oxfam calculations using data from the EU Trust Fund annual report: European Commission. (2017). EUTF Africa 2016 Annual report. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/eu-trust-fund-africa-2016-annualreport_en 9 Borderline Sicilia collected 100 interviews from male migrants between July 2016 and April 2017.

Oxfam

www.oxfam.org

Oxfam is an international confederation of 20 organizations working together in more than 90 countries: Oxfam America (www.oxfamamerica.org), Oxfam Australia (www.oxfam.org.au), Oxfam-in-Belgium (www.oxfamsol.be), Oxfam Canada (www.oxfam.ca), Oxfam France (www.oxfamfrance.org), Oxfam Germany (www.oxfam.de), Oxfam GB (www.oxfam.org.uk), Oxfam Hong Kong (www.oxfam.org.hk), Oxfam IBIS – Denmark (www.oxfamibis.dk), Oxfam India (www.oxfamindia.org), Oxfam Intermón (www.oxfamintermon.org), Oxfam Ireland (www.oxfamireland.org), Oxfam Italy (www.oxfamitalia.org), Oxfam Japan (www.oxfam.jp), Oxfam Mexico (www.oxfammexico.org) Oxfam New Zealand (www.oxfam.org.nz) Oxfam Novib (www.oxfamnovib.nl), Oxfam Quebec (www.oxfam.qc.ca) Oxfam Brasil (www.oxfam.org.br), Oxfam South Africa (www.oxfam.org.za) 6

‘Male rape used systematically in Libya as instrument of war’, The Guardian report says.

21/11/2017

Revealed: male rape used systematically in Libya as instrument of war | World news | The Guardian

Extract : Ahmed said 450 men were being held in his part of the jail.

“There was a black man, a migrant. In the evening, they threw him into one of our cells: ‘You rape this guy, otherwise, you’re dead!’”

Revealed: male rape used systematically in Libya as instrument of war Videos and testimony expose brutal tactics used by several factions in fractured country Warning: graphic information in this report may upset some readers Cécile Allegra in Tunis and Tripoli Friday 3 November 2017 08.12 GMT

Male rape is being used systematically in Libya as an instrument of war and political domination by rival factions, according to multiple testimonies gathered by investigators.

Years of work by a Tunis-based group and witnessed by a journalist from Le Monde have produced harrowing reports from victims, and video footage showing men being sodomised by various objects, including rockets and broom handles.

In several instances, witnesses say a victim was thrown into a room with other prisoners, who were ordered to rape him or be killed.

The atrocity is being perpetrated to humiliate and neutralise opponents in the lawless, militiadominated country. Male rape is such a taboo in Arab societies that the abused generally feel too damaged to rejoin political, military or civic life.

One man, Ahmed, told investigators he was detained for four years in a prison in Tomina, on the outskirts of Misrata. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/03/revealed-male-used-systematically-in-libya-as-instrument-of-war

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Revealed: male rape used systematically in Libya as instrument of war | World news | The Guardian

“They separate you to subjugate you,” he said. “‘Subjugate the men’, that’s the expression that they use. So that you never hold your head up again. And they were filming everything with their phones.

“They take a broom and fix it on the wall. If you want to eat, you have to take off your pants, back on to the broom and not move off until the jailer sees blood flowing. Nobody can escape it.”

Ahmed said 450 men were being held in his part of the jail.

“There was a black man, a migrant. In the evening, they threw him into one of our cells: ‘You rape this guy, otherwise, you’re dead!’”

The Gaddafi regime was accused of using rape as an instrument of war during the 2011 revolution that unseated the dictator. Until now there has been no conclusive proof.

“Gaddafi loyalists raped during the revolution,” said one of the Tunis-based exiled Libyans, who wishes to be known only as Ramadan for security reasons. “Once they were defeated, they suffered the same violence.”

The hub of the investigation is a small office in Tunis, where Ramadan and his chief collaborator, a large man called Imed, have spent three years collating evidence.

In one video shown to this reporter, a young man is seen sitting in the sand with his head down, terrified. An arm in a military outfit lifts him up, pulls down his trousers, then his pants, and places a rocket launcher up to his buttocks. The camera turns away. Ramadan turns away.

“Stop it, it’s sadistic!”

The video cannot be independently verified, and it’s impossible to identify the militia group or where the rape took place.

Imed travelled to Libya with this reporter this year to gather testimony. In southern Tripoli he met a colleague, Mouna, who has documented dozens of cases.

In one case, a former soldier loyal to Muammar Gaddafi said he was raped repeatedly. “With a broom handle fixed to a wall?” Imed asked.

Mouna nodded. “They were all raped like this.”

Further evidence emerged from a group of associates based in a small building near Tripoli.

They handed Imed 650 files arranged in alphabetical order.

Many contained rape allegations made by people from the Tawergha, a black African tribe accused of once supporting Gaddafi, and of raping their enemies during the revolution.

They faced a terrible revenge. Their city, Tawergha, was razed and 35,000 inhabitants were scattered to several camps for internally displaced people in Benghazi and Tripoli.

In one camp, south of Tripoli, a man called Ali recounted his experience. He was 39 but looked 65 and walked with a cane.

“Some of us were locked in a room, naked, for a whole night with groups of migrants,” he said.

“The guards did not release them until they had all raped each other. Fortunately, I didn’t go through that, I only got the stick and the wheel.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/03/revealed-male-used-systematically-in-libya-as-instrument-of-war

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Revealed: male rape used systematically in Libya as instrument of war | World news | The Guardian

The “wheel” involved being put naked and folded double, through a tyre suspended from the ceiling, making it easier for torturers to penetrate him with weaponry. Ali said he now had physical problems, “leaks” as he called them.

In another camp in southern Tripoli, Fathia said women were not immune. She said her entire family was violated by a militia from Misrata, with the men being deliberately targeted.

“They dragged me in the street, in front of everyone, saying: ‘You raped our girls. We’ll do the same thing to you.’

“The worst thing they did to me,” she whispered, “is to rape me in front of my eldest son. Since then, he won’t speak to me.”

Asked about other inmates who suffered a similar ordeal, Fathia said: “I only heard men’s voices. They were screaming, day and night.”

Last year, the international criminal court prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, asked the UN security council for more funds to strengthen and expand her investigations into Libyan war crimes.

And on 15 August, the ICC issued an international arrest warrant for Cdr Mahmoud Al-Werfalli, a general accused of war crimes who is allied to Khalifa Haftar, the man who has controlled eastern Libya for years.

For the first time, videos posted on the internet showing summary executions allegedly committed by Werfalli have been admitted by the ICC as evidence.

In Tunis, the investigators were buoyed by this development: they now know their video testimonies will be legally valid if war crimes cases are brought against the perpetrators of the systematic rape.

They also expect more victims to come forward from clandestine jails in eastern Libya.

Cécile Allegra contributed this report to Le Monde. It was shared with the Guardian as part of a series by Politiken, Le Monde, El País, La Stampa, Der Spiegel and the Guardian.

Topics Libya Migration crisis: the new routes to Europe Rape and sexual assault War crimes Africa International criminal court Middle East and North Africa news

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/03/revealed-male-used-systematically-in-libya-as-instrument-of-war

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SLAVE AUCTIONS TO THE DOORS OF EUROPE SUBASTAS DE ESCLAVOS A LAS PUERTAS DE EUROPA Reportage published in El País. 2 July 2017 https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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Subastas de esclavos a las puertas de Europa | Internacional | EL PAÍS

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SUBASTAS DE ESCLAVOS A LAS PUERTAS DE EUROPA Pujas, latigazos y cadenas. EL PAÍS pone rostro a la denuncia de Naciones Unidas: cada vez más inmigrantes están siendo vendidos como esclavos en mercados de Libia

NACHO CARRETERO

Agadez (Níger) - 2 JUL 2017 - 11:38 CEST

Adam Souleyman, nigerino, fue esclavo en Libia durante cinco meses. FOTO Y VÍDEO: ALFONS RODRÍGUEZ

En la ciudad de Sabha —situada al sur de Libia, 100.000 habitantes— existe un lugar conocido como el gueto de Ali. Es un nombre que hace agachar la cabeza a Abou Bacar Yaw, un joven gambiano de 18 años que pasó dos meses dentro.

El gueto de Ali es, probablemente y en base a las descripciones de quienes allí estuvieron, un antiguo centro de detención. Antes de la guerra que culminó con la caída de Muamar el Gadafi, Sabha era un oasis migratorio de la ruta africana central hacia Europa. Muchos subsaharianos eran retenidos en este lugar y expulsados del país. Sabha era, también, un atractivo destino turístico para aventureros.

https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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Subastas de esclavos a las puertas de Europa | Internacional | EL PAÍS

Cuenta Abou Bacar que hoy se trata de un edificio gastado, lleno de ratas y polvo, con varias celdas y un patio interior. Cientos de jóvenes subsaharianos se agolpan en espacios pequeños sin luz ni ventilación. El lugar lo dirige un libio de la etnia tubu conocido como Ali. Alrededor, las calles de Sabha son hoy el territorio de milicias, traficantes, mafiosos y vecinos armados. Zona prohibida para el visitante.

Abou Bacar llegó a este sitio tras cinco días de travesía ininterrumpida a través del desierto. Partió de Agadez, en el desértico centro de Níger, donde meses después está de regreso. Sentado en una vieja silla, con una cicatriz al lado de su ojo izquierdo y la llamada al rezo desde una mezquita cercana, relata sus recuerdos. Cuenta que todo el mundo en Sabha conoce el gueto de Ali. “Pero a nadie le importa porque Libia es el infierno. Todo el mundo va armado. Hasta los niños llevan pistola. Y a nadie le preocupa el bien o el mal”. El gueto de Ali parece llevar sus actividades sin demasiadas molestias.

"No sentaban en el suelo y los libios venían a elegirnos y a comprarnos, como quien escoge mangos en el mercado. Después discutían el precio"

“Yo ya había pagado mi pasaje hasta Trípoli. Lo pagué en Agadez, antes de salir”.

Abou desembolsó 381 euros, los ahorros de toda su familia. “Pero nunca llegué a Trípoli”. Cuando alcanzaron Sabha, el conductor del vehículo que los trajo a través del Sáhara los llevó al gueto. “Allí estaban unos libios, con uniformes militares y armas.

No sé si eran soldados, milicianos o qué eran”. A Abou y a los demás los metieron en el edificio, les dijeron que no habían pagado el pasaje —cuando sí lo habían hecho— y los encerraron sin más explicación.

Un vaso de agua y una barra de pan era lo que le daban cada día de los dos meses que Abou estuvo en el gueto. Allí se amontonaban, según estima Abou, unas 300 personas, todos hombres. A los que iban muriendo, tenían los demás que sacarlos y quemar los cuerpos en un descampado contiguo al centro. “Cada día llegaban hombres árabes, a veces con guardaespaldas, y entonces nos sacaban al patio. Allí nos teníamos que sentar así —Abou se sienta en el suelo, con la piernas abiertas—, en fila, cada uno entre las piernas del que tenía detrás. Formábamos como un tren en el suelo”. Abou regresa a su silla y continúa su relato: “El hombre árabe paseaba entre nosotros y elegía a algunos. Elegía a los fuertes, a los que no pareciese que se iban a morir en dos días. Los elegía como cuando eliges mangos en el mercado de fruta.

Después pagaba a la gente del gueto y se los llevaba. Cada día llegaban hombres árabes a comprarnos”.

A Abou lo vendieron al cabo de dos meses. “No sé cuánto pagaron por mí. Delante de nosotros no hablaban de dinero, se iban a negociar los precios a un rincón”. Abou se queda en silencio. Con la mirada perdida. Después dice: “El gueto de Ali es el lugar que imaginas cuando te hablan de un mercado de esclavos”. Un mercado de esclavos en el siglo XXI, en una ciudad hasta hace poco relativamente turística y en un país a 400 kilómetros de Europa.

https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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FOTOGALERÍA: A las puertas del infierno. Abou Bacar, nacido en Gambia, fue vendido en un mercado de esclavos de la ciudad libia de Sabha. ALFONS RODRÍGUEZ

El agujero libio Antes de la guerra —estalló el conflicto al amparo de la Primavera Árabe en el año 2011— Libia era una de las varias rutas migratorias hacia Europa. Las mafias optaban en ocasiones por trasladar a los migrantes a Mauritania y de ahí alcanzar en cayuco las islas Canarias; o atravesar Argelia para llegar a Marruecos y saltar la valla de Melilla; o cruzar Libia e intentar navegar en patera hasta la isla italiana de Lampedusa.

Hoy, Libia se perfila como casi la única ruta: el caos es tal en el país que las mafias y los traficantes de personas campan sin estorbos, al contrario de las vigiladas fronteras del resto de países. Cada pueblo y ciudad en Libia pertenece a una milicia distinta. Y en ese revoltijo tratan de colarse los migrantes para cruzar el mar. Se estima que, a día de hoy, unos 330.000 migrantes están bloqueados en Libia, según la Organización Internacional para las Migraciones (OIM).

El problema es que esta violenta anarquía tiene reverso: miles de hombres y mujeres están siendo secuestrados, aprovechando la falta de control. Los secuestros, desde hace unos meses, han ido un paso más allá: cada vez son más los esclavos.

El pasado mes de abril la OIM, agencia dependiente de Naciones Unidas, publicó un informe en el que denunciaba que en Libia existen, desde hace meses, mercados de

https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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Subastas de esclavos a las puertas de Europa | Internacional | EL PAÍS

esclavos. Lugares en los que migrantes son vendidos para utilizarlos como mano de obra, como sirvientes o esclavos sexuales.

Giuseppe Loprete, jefe de misión de la OIM en Níger, explica en el despacho de su oficina en Niamey que “los migrantes que vuelven de Libia nos están contando historias terribles. Nos hablan de pujas, de subastas, de compraventa de esclavos”.

Un macabro retroceso en el tiempo al otro lado del Mediterráneo. El gueto de Ali, donde fue vendido Abou, es uno de estos mercados.

Fotografías extraídas del teléfono de un migrante retenido en Libia y facilitadas por la OIM. La agencia explica que se trata de esclavos en un mercado de Libia, a la espera de ser vendidos. OIM

No se trata de secuestros en los que se solicita un rescate. No se trata de condiciones de explotación. No se trata de poder pagar por tu libertad. Se trata de un tráfico de esclavos en el que vecinos de Libia compran subsaharianos para que trabajen en sus casas, granjas o cultivos sin salario de ningún tipo —más allá de techo y comida— y bajo un régimen de violencia.

La OIM lo ha denunciado y ahora comienzan a aparecer los testimonios de aquellos que han escapado de tal experiencia. La comunidad Internacional, sin embargo, no parece estar haciendo demasiado sobre el terreno para terminar con una pesadilla propia de otro siglo.

Vendido por 3.200 euros “Quiero explicarle al mundo lo que está pasando”. Lo dice Achaman Agahli, 39 años, robusto, vecino de la ciudad nigerina de Agadez. Nos recibe en su casa, una construcción básica de adobe en la que comparten espacio personas y cabras.

"A mí me vendieron en un lote de 12 y pagaron por mí unos 3.000 euros"

Achaman trabajaba transportando bidones entre pueblos del desierto. Fue un amigo quien le planteó la posibilidad de intentar llegar a Europa para ganar dinero. Lo consultó con su mujer y decidió intentarlo. Partió una noche de junio del año pasado, a las tres de la madrugada, subido a la parte trasera de un vehículo pick up blanco marca Toyota. Cuando estaban a punto de arrancar, escuchó que el traficante a https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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Subastas de esclavos a las puertas de Europa | Internacional | EL PAÍS

quien le habían pagado por el traslado hablaba por teléfono: “Te mando un lote de 25”. No le dio importancia Achaman en aquel momento. Días después, la afirmación cobraría sentido.

“La idea era que nos llevasen hasta Madama, en la frontera entre Níger y Libia, pero pasamos de largo y nos dejaron en Al Qatrun, ya en Libia. Ahí nos recogieron unos tubus libios [los miembros de una etnia local]. Llevaban barba, iban armados. Fue cuando 8 cifras para entender la tragedia de las migraciones

me dije: ‘Aquí hay problemas, algo falla’. Nos llevaron a Sabha y nos metieron a todos en la habitación de un edificio vacío”.

Achaman estuvo 26 días encerrado. “Nos daban pan y leche. Un día, uno los hombres que nos custodiaba, nos dijo: ‘No os damos más para que no tengáis fuerza y escapéis”. El día 27 llegó un Fotogalería: A las puertas del infierno

hombre libio y se puso a discutir de dinero con el jefe de los secuestradores de Achaman. Esta vez sí, escucharon la negociación. “Yo hablo árabe. Les entendí. Acordaron la venta de un lote de 12. Sí, así dijo, un lote de 12. Y por cada uno del lote, por cada uno de nosotros, iba a pagar 5.000 dinares libios”.

Aquel día compraron a Achaman por 3.200 euros.

El drama de los refugiados africanos en 10 reportajes

“Nuestro comprador nos llevó a su casa, una casa muy grande con un huerto muy amplio en Ubari, a pocos kilómetros de Sabha. Era un señor rico. Yo estuve dos meses recuperándome porque estaba muy enfermo. Cuando me puse bien, empecé a

trabajar”. Achaman tenía que alimentar a los animales del propietario, limpiar los establos, cuidar el huerto, arar… A cambio, el dueño de la casa le daba cobijo y comida. Como hablaba árabe, lo convirtió en su hombre de confianza. “A los demás los despreciaba, pero a mí me trataba bien. No me pegaba ni me gritaba. Y, al cabo de unos meses, tenía libertad para entrar y salir de la casa si necesitaba hacer recados”.

Achaman Agahli, de 39 años, fue esclavizado en la ciudad Libia de Sabha durante un mes y medio.

ALFONS RODRÍGUEZ

Fue en uno de esos recados. Achaman dijo que tenía que ir a Sabha a por medicinas y, de camino, se cruzó con un conductor nigerino que le ayudó a cruzar la frontera de vuelta. https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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Subastas de esclavos a las puertas de Europa | Internacional | EL PAÍS

La mujer de Achaman murió la semana pasada, dando a luz. “Se fue sin que supiera lo que me pasó. Nunca le dije nada. No la quería ver triste”.

Cinturones a modo de látigo Adam Souleyman lleva una camiseta amarilla con un dibujo de Don Quijote. Tiene 24 años, es muy delgado y se pone un turbante en la cabeza para protegerse del sol y la arena. Aunque está viviendo en Agadez, donde nos recibe en el patio de tierra de una casa familiar, nació y creció en una aldea cercana a Zinder, la segunda ciudad de Níger, al sur del país. Desde ahí, hace ahora un año y cinco meses, partió rumbo a Libia en busca de Europa.

El recibimiento tuvo lugar en Madama, localidad fronteriza, donde, según recuerda Adam, unos milicianos lo tumbaron en el suelo a él y al resto de migrantes con los que viajaba. “Nos quitaron nuestros documentos y el dinero”. Desde ese momento, Adam se convirtió en mercancía.

Tres días estuvo encerrado hasta que un hombre, que Adam recuerda como “gordo, grande”, llegó, discutió precio con los milicianos y se llevó a tres de ellos. “Un chico de Mali, otro de Burkina Faso y yo. Todos en furgoneta. El hombre nos encerró en un sótano. Las ventanas eran muy pequeñas y daban al suelo de arena. Había unas alfombras para que durmiéramos. El hombre solo nos dijo una cosa: ‘Sobrevivir es lo mejor que podéis conseguir desde ahora”.

“Cada día nos llevaba a trabajar a una casa distinta, de árabes ricos, casas muy grandes. Nos despertaba echándonos agua fría encima y nos sacaba del sótano dándonos golpes con el cinturón, como si fuera un látigo”

Era el nuevo dueño de Adam y los otros dos chicos. Y los alquilaba. “Cada día nos llevaba a trabajar a una casa distinta, de árabes ricos, casas muy grandes. Nos despertaba echándonos agua fría encima y nos sacaba del sótano dándonos golpes con el cinturón, como si fuera un látigo”. Adam reproduce con desgana el gesto, levantando el brazo. “Cuando terminábamos de trabajar, venía a buscarnos a la casa y nos volvía a meter en el sótano”. Así estuvo Adam un mes y diez días.

“Había días que no teníamos que trabajar, que el hombre no venía a buscarnos. Y nos pasábamos el día sin comer encerrados. El chico de Malí hablaba de acabar con todo eso, de suicidarse, decía que no aguantaba”. ¿Y tú? “Yo no. Yo quería ver a mi familia”. ¿Te sentías como un esclavo? “No me sentía. Era un esclavo”.

Se pasaba las noches Adam maldiciendo el día que decidió irse a Libia. La luz la vio una tarde que el dueño de una casa le mandó salir hasta un pozo de agua a reparar una avería. “Yo iba caminando y me crucé con una camioneta en la que iban trabajadores africanos. Uno era hausa, como yo, así que le grité y le pedí ayuda”.

Aquel hombre acogió a Adam en su casa y después le consiguió sitio en un camión para regresar a Agadez, donde ahora trabaja para poder reunir el dinero y volver a Zinder. “No sé qué pasó con los otros dos chicos, el de Malí y el de Burkina Faso”,

https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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Subastas de esclavos a las puertas de Europa | Internacional | EL PAÍS

dice Adam. “A lo mejor todavía siguen allí”. Después aprieta las manos contra sus ojos y llora.

Siete meses sin ver el cielo Marian cubre su cabeza con un velo rojo. Se fue de Lagos, Nigeria, en julio del año pasado. Le dijeron que tras un pequeño viaje en coche y cruzar un río, estaría en Italia.

Marian tiene 23 años y vive en el suelo de la estación de autobuses de Agadez, donde aguarda poder regresar a su ciudad. Allí, nadie sabe que a Marian la convirtieron, durante siete meses, en una esclava sexual.

Fue en Trípoli, Libia, después de cruzar el desierto con más días de ruta de lo previsto, tras un error de orientación del conductor que les llevó a tener que beber agua de charcos que encontraban. “Cuando llegamos a Trípoli nos metieron en un sótano sin ventanas. Pregunté cuándo llegábamos a Italia y un hombre me dijo: nunca”. Para Marian, arrancó el suplicio.

Marian, nigeriana de 23 años, fue esclava sexual en Trípoli durante 7 meses. ALFONS RODRIGUEZ

“Una mujer nos explicó la situación al grupo de chicas que estábamos en el sótano.

Nos dijo que, si queríamos volver a ser libres, necesitábamos pagar una cantidad (Marian no quiere decir cuánto) y que la única manera de lograrla era siendo prostitutas en ese sótano”.

Marian resopla: “Yo no paraba de llorar. Y me negué. Llegó un señor el primer día y me dijo ‘siéntate aquí’, señalándose las piernas y yo le dije que no. Entonces, el marido de la mujer que nos explicó todo me pegó en la cara. Dijo: ‘Si no obedeces, te pego’. Y yo le dije que me pegara. Y le ponía la cara”. Marian gira la mejilla, como ofreciéndola. Después añade: “Pero hay un momento en que ya no quieres que te peguen más”.

Si Marian o cualquier de las otras chicas se negaba, la mujer rompía la hoja en la que iba apuntando lo recaudado por ellas. “Y teníamos que volver a empezar”. Marian tardó siete meses en recobrar su libertad. Durante esos siete meses nunca salió del sótano. Nunca llegó a ver el cielo. https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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Subastas de esclavos a las puertas de Europa | Internacional | EL PAÍS

“Ahora quiero volver a Lagos. Y recuperar mi vida de antes. Y espero que jamás nadie de mi familia sepa lo que me ocurrió”.

Atados por las muñecas Cuando explica su trágica experiencia, Nasser Abdul Kader sonríe. Como un mecanismo de defensa, como una válvula de escape para no derrumbarse. A Nasser no lo compró nadie. El hombre que lo esclavizó, lo robó.

Como casi todos los demás, llegó a Libia con la promesa de alcanzar Italia en cuatro días. Partió de Agadez, donde nació, y, tras el periplo, fue abandonado en las calles de Sabha, sin dinero ni documentación, en compañía de otros seis inmigrantes.

“Acudimos a una plaza en la que venían hombres a recoger trabajadores para jornadas sueltas. Cada vez que aparecía alguno, los chicos se abalanzaban sobre ellos para que los llevasen”.

El tercer día, Nasser y otro chico se fueron con un tipo que necesitaba mano de obra.

“Nos llevó a una granja avícola, llena de gallinas. Nos enseñó la granja y nos dijo que nuestro trabajo era alimentar a las gallinas y mantenerlas despiertas por las noches”.

Nasser hace una mueca de incomprensión y encoge los hombros. “Al día siguiente nos presentó a dos hombres armados, muy fuertes y nos dijo que eran los encargados de la seguridad de la granja”.

Nasser estuvo un mes y diez días descargando sacos de pienso, alimentando gallinas y manteniéndolas despiertas por las noches. Todo cambió cuando Nasser le preguntó a uno de los hombres de seguridad cuándo les iban a pagar. “Me miró, levantó el dedo así —Nasser pone recto su índice, en gesto de advertencia— y me dijo: ‘Presta atención: en este lugar no se pagan sueldos’. Me asusté, pero al día siguiente, enfadados, nos negamos a descargar el camión”.

"Para trabajar nos ataban con una cadena de dos metros, por las muñecas. Solo nos la quitaban para dormir"

La sentada de Nasser y su amigo tuvo consecuencias cuando los dos vigilantes vieron los sacos de pienso sin descargar. “Vinieron a buscarnos a la habitación y nos dieron una paliza con un cable grueso y también con un cinturón. Después nos enseñaron una pistola y nos dijeron: ‘Si no trabajáis, os matamos y vamos a por otros dos negros”.

Desde ese día, los dos chicos tuvieron que trabajar uno atado al otro. “Con una cadena de unos dos metros, atada con mucha fuerza a las muñecas. Y partir de aquello nos pegaban con un cable mientras trabajábamos. Ahí me convertí en esclavo”.

A Nasser y a su compañero solo los desataban cuando regresaban a la habitación a dormir. “Nadie sabía dónde estábamos, no teníamos dinero, ni papeles, ni contacto con el exterior. Era como estar muertos”. La tragedia duró cinco meses, hasta que Nasser logró escapar de la granja una mañana en la que los dos hombres de seguridad se quedaron dormidos por el alcohol. https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/06/29/actualidad/1498753080_705940.html

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OTHER TESTIMONIES COLLECTED, IN RELATION TO THE ABUSES COMMITTED IN LIBYA TESTIMONY # 1: WOMAN OF UNKNOWN AGE FROM NIGERIA TAKEN IN LIBYA I left home [Nigeria] one year ago. I have three younger siblings; I left because I wanted to take care of them. I used to be at another prison, the “Asma Boys” [criminal gang of young men] took me there. I don’t know where that was, but it was close to here. It was a much better place there. I have been arrested here in Tripoli.

One week ago I was picked up from the other prison by a Libyan man who said I would work for him. Me and three other men were taken out of the place, but we never worked for him. He brought us straight to this place [detention centre]. We were sold.

The IOM registered me, it has been one week since I have been in this place, and they took my name and my photo. I really want to get out of here; I am scared something will happen to me.

TESTIMONY # 2: 28 YEAR OLD MAN FROM CAMEROON TAKEN IN LIBYA The IOM registered 160 Nigerians for repatriation; only 60 were taken from here. They were angry. Some of them were taken away, handed to Libyan smugglers. If you pay 1000 LD then you can go. They [the detention centre administration] act as if everyone is intercepted at sea. They give the wrong impression. They go on the streets and pick us up. […]

There are parallel systems here. Each police officer has his own business. They have links with the smugglers. […] If the guards let you go it is because you paid.

If you are not friends with the guards, they won’t let you make the phone call [to call your family/friends to pay for your release]. If you pass information to the guards, they let you call. You pass information about people who misbehave, who want to escape, that kind of thing.

It’s like the slave trade all over again, here [in Libya]. The Europeans used to come to our countries and take all the resources they found back home. And now that we try to go to Europe to survive, use their resources, they don’t let us in. do you know how hard it is to get a visa [for a Western country]? I applied for Canada, it took me two years and still nothing. It was so expensive. It is just impossible, they don’t let us.

TESTIMONY # 3: 27 YEAR OLD WOMAN FROM THE IVORY COAST TAKEN ON BOARD RESCUE SHIP 06/07/2016 We were caught by the […] police on the road and put in a prison. We were then sold […]. The IOM visited us once in the prison, the guard was standing behind the IOM representative and making a sign he would slaughter us. Guards and prison administration say they are deporting/repatriating the migrants just to get rid of the Red Crescent and NGOs. In reality we were sold again. In the evening they would come to get the women as prostitutes. Black women have no value. They take you for the night and they return you. Men can have sexual intercourse for five Libyan dinar paid to the guard, whether the woman consents or not. The guards say Taa’li (Arabic for come) and you know what to expect. They threaten you with weapons, they beat you. Once, male detainees refused that women are taken away and they were beaten. There are girls who are still there and have no family to pay for them to be released. So they have to work and go out in the evening. They would only come back in the morning. Sometimes after several days. It depends how much the client paid. A Libyan man bought us and we are expected to pay 550 euros each to be released. As we did not have much money we were sold to another Libyan.

TESTIMONY # 4: 32 YEAR OLD MAN FROM SYRIA TAKEN ON BOARD RESCUE SHIP I was born in Syria but my family moved to Libya when I was a child. In 2015, we decided to leave Libya

because of the civil war there. We were about 120 persons on the boat. At sea, we called back our smugglers because we didn’t feel safe on-board. Water was entering into the boat. The boat capsized and most of people died, including my beloved ones. Some smugglers finally rescued me and few other people and put us in jail.

They asked us for money. In February last year, I embarked again but the boat was stopped by an armed group.

Again, I was asked for money. As I couldn’t pay, I became a slave. I was forced to work. I have been tortured for four months and beaten with stick and electric cables.

TESTIMONY # 5: 28 YEAR OLD MAN FROM BANGLADESH TAKEN IN LIBYA In the beginning, I spent 15 days in the other cell, next to the women’s cell […]. It was awful. There was no bathroom, and when I arrived they didn’t give me any food for three days. When we finally got food, it was one loaf of bread per day. That’s it. Nothing else. At least now I get some food, it’s better. There was no running water, so we had to drink from the toilet. We filled our bottles with water from the toilet, it was the only water we had access to. We were in the cell with 19 people. Everyone is now in the cell where we are now, with the rest of the men. There were four people who were very sick, I don’t know what happened to them. I don’t know where they are or if they are still alive. It was very sad, they looked very bad.

The bread we received was handed to us by the black people [detainees assigned guarding tasks].

I don’t know anyone here, I want to go back home. I have my own room [here in Tripoli], I bought presents for my daughter and for my wife, to give to them when I would be back. Can you help me get out of here, please?

TESTIMONY # 6: 28 YEAR OLDMAN FROM MALI TAKEN IN LIBYA I was arrested at the entrance of Tripoli. I was travelling in a 4X4 pickup. Before being brought to jail, they took everything we had. We have never been told about how to get out of jail. I have not been able to contact my parents and they don’t know where I am. Food is not good. Even medication doesn’t suffice.

Last week Guinea embassy staff came but we do not have any information and we don’t even know why we are held here.

They hit you with whips, broomsticks, poles. They beat us for no reason. If a person is not following orders, we all pay. We had to go to sleep at 7pm and if we make noise they beat us. When someone is sick, their first reaction is to beat you up. […] If you ask for water they beat you up. If you want to pee, they hit you first. Regarding to food, they give a portion for two people for five people.

What do they want from us? If what they want is money, give us phones to call our families. The first time I was arrested, there was a raid at 2am. Armed men with balaclavas came in 4X4. They searched and took everything.

TESTIMONY # 7: MAN UN UNKNOWN AGE FROM GAMBIA TAKEN ON BOARD RESCUE SHIP I think you should do something to explain to Europe what is happening in Libya. Over there is a slaughterhouse, a hell, from which it is very difficult to get out. There is no plane to fly back home, no bus or car to drive you back. You can’t go in that direction, and so the sea is the only way out. This is why I am here: robbing, kidnapping, raping, this is how they rule over there, and of course this is not acceptable for a human being, maybe not even for an animal. Before leaving I had spent 8 months in prison, and then they sold me to someone else, which meant another prison. Everyday someone came and beat us with an iron bar: when I say “us” I mean men, women –included pregnant women- and children. Four of my friends who travelled with me where shot in front of my eyes, as if they were chickens. The worst thing is that nobody is accountable for it.

The role of the European Union in the Central Mediterranean Migratory Route

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EU's policy of helping Libya intercept migrants is 'inhuman', says UN | World news | The Guardian

EU's policy of helping Libya intercept migrants is 'inhuman', says UN Human rights chief calls suffering of people detained in Libyan prisons ‘an outrage to the conscience of humanity’ Agence France-Presse in Geneva Tuesday 14 November 2017 18.16 GMT

The EU policy of helping Libyan authorities intercept people trying to cross the Mediterranean and return them to prisons is “inhuman”, the UN has said.

“The suffering of migrants detained in Libya is an outrage to the conscience of humanity,” said the UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, in a statement issued on Tuesday. “The European Union’s policy of assisting the Libyan coastguard to intercept and return migrants in the Mediterranean [is] inhuman.”

Chaos-ridden Libya has long been a major transit hub for people trying to reach Europe. Many have fallen prey to serious abuse in the country at the hands of traffickers and others.

Hussein said “the detention system for migrants in Libya is broken beyond repair”.

“The international community cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the unimaginable horrors endured by migrants in Libya, and pretend that the situation can be remedied only by improving conditions in detention,” he said. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/14/eu-libya-coastguard-detention-centres-migration-mediterranean-un-zeid-raad-al-hussein

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According to Libya’s department of combating illegal migration (DCIM), 19,900 people were being held in facilities under its control in early November, up from about 7,000 in midSeptember.

The increase came after authorities detained thousands of people previously held by smugglers in Libya’s trafficking hub Sabratha, west of Tripoli.

Hussein said UN staff members had visited four DCIM facilities earlier this month and were shocked by what they saw. “[There were] thousands of emaciated and traumatised men, women and children piled on top of each other, locked up in hangars with no access to the most basic necessities, and stripped of their human dignity,” he said.

People including children described horrific beatings by guards at detention centres, while many women said they faced rape and other sexual violence at the hands of smugglers and guards.

One woman told UN staff she was gang-raped by three men, including a DCIM guard, while another woman said four armed men had gang-raped her during her journey, when she was pregnant.

“I bled profusely, and I think I lost the baby. I haven’t seen a doctor yet,” she said.

The UN urged Libyan authorities to take concrete steps to halt violations and abuses in the detention centres, and stop detaining migrants.

“The increasing interventions of the EU and its member states have done nothing so far to reduce the level of abuses suffered by migrants,” Hussein said, adding that instead, there appeared to be a “fast deterioration in their situation in Libya”.

Zeid’s comments came after ministers from 13 European and African countries pledged on Monday to act to ease the crisis around the Mediterranean, especially to help improve conditions for people held in Libya.

At a meeting in Bern of the contact group on the crisis along the central Mediterranean migration route, ministers reiterated a pledge to strengthen Libya’s coastguard.

Italy, with the support of the EU, has since the summer been training the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats as part of a controversial deal that has resulted in arrivals to Italy falling by nearly 70% since July.

Reacting to Hussein’s charges, an EU spokesperson said Brussels was funding UN agencies on the ground in Libya that were working to protect people.

“We believe that the detention centres in Libya must be closed. The situation in these camps is unacceptable,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The EU wanted rescued people to be brought to “reception centres that meet international humanitarian standards”, they said, while at the same time improving the Libyan coastguard’s capacity to prevent deaths at sea.

But the UN human rights office criticised European countries for ignoring warnings that the deal with Libya could condemn more people to detention, exposing them to torture, rape, forced labour and extortion.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/14/eu-libya-coastguard-detention-centres-migration-mediterranean-un-zeid-raad-al-hussein

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EU: Boat Migration Demands Shared Responsibility

JULY 4, 2017 8:01AM EDT

EU: Boat Migration Demands Shared Responsibility Rescue and Safe Ports Needed as Libyan Authorities Unable to Guarantee Rights or Protect People (Milan) – Measures to tackle boat migration in the central Mediterranean – proposed on July 3, 2017, by the European Union migration commissioner and the interior ministers of Italy, France, and Germany – fall far short of what is needed, Human Rights Watch said today.

EU interior ministers gathering in an informal summit on July 6-7 should explore more ambitious plans to ensure more equitable sharing of responsibility for the lives and rights of those leaving Libya by sea, including functioning disembarkation and relocation plans.

A migrant is rescued from the mediteranean sea by a member of Proactiva Open Arms NGO some 20 nautical miles north of Libya on October 3, 2016.

“These proposals on boat migration fall far short

© 2016 Getty Images

of a genuine roadmap for sharing responsibility.

That’s not good for the EU, it’s not good for Italy, and it’s awful for people fleeing Libya,” said Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Long-term goals, however laudable, cannot obscure the current stark reality: with abusive conditions, lack of asylum system, and conflicts there, Libyan authorities cannot effectively guarantee rights or protect people.”

The measures outlined yesterday for the most part endorse intensifying current plans with respect to building the capacity of the Government of National Accord (GNA) to control Libya’s borders, increasing returns from EU countries, and relocation out of Italy of certain asylum seekers to other EU countries. The UN-backed GNA, based in Tripoli, is one of three authorities vying for international legitimacy and control of territory.

The joint statement comes after the Italian government asked for other EU countries to disembark migrants and asylum seekers rescued in the Mediterranean, and the country’s interior minister said it was considering blocking disembarkation in Italy of migrants and asylum seekers rescued by ships not flying the Italian flag and not part of international naval operations. Italy performs or coordinates virtually all rescue operations in the Mediterranean, and about 85,000 people have been disembarked in Italy since January. More than 2,000 have died at sea this year. https://www.hrw.org/print/306063

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EU: Boat Migration Demands Shared Responsibility

A well-coordinated plan among EU countries on the Mediterranean Sea – notably Malta, France, and Spain – to share responsibility for disembarkation is worth exploring as a way to alleviate the strain on Italy’s reception system, Human Rights Watch said.

Instead, the statement calls for accelerating the existing EU relocation scheme, with France and Germany pledging to increase their efforts. The relocation plan was narrowly-drawn and poorly implemented, and even under the best of circumstances will benefit a tiny fraction of those reaching Italian shores, Human Rights Watch said.

France, Germany, and other EU member states should adopt broader eligibility criteria to enable more people to access the relocation plan, and ensure that requests for relocation of unaccompanied children and those with family members in EU countries are swiftly processed.

The statement also includes a proposal for a code of conduct for nongovernmental organizations performing rescues at sea.Improved coordination, codes of conduct, and best practices are important for all actors involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean. EU governments should also recognise that nongovernmental organizations perform important rescue efforts in the Mediterranean, often in the areas where EU vessels operating under Frontex and the EU’s anti-smuggling operation, EUNAVFOR MED, are not present, Human Rights Watch said.

Any new arrangements or instructions on response to situations of distress at sea should ensure that EU vessels are not obligated to cede rescue operations in international waters to Libyan forces, and should guarantee that any nearby vessels will fulfil their rescue obligations in Libyan territorial waters in situations posing the threat of imminent loss of life.

Migrants and asylum seekers in Libya face arbitrary detention in abysmal conditions and a well-documented risk of serious abuse, including forced labor, torture, and sexual violence. Fragmented Libyan coast guard forces lack the capacity to safely perform search-and-rescue obligations. As far as Human Rights Watch is aware, EUNAVFOR MED and relevant EU member states and institutions have yet to set up a mechanism to monitor the training program for Libyan coast guard forces or efforts to improve conditions in detention centers.

Region / Country Europe/Central Asia European Union Topic Refugee Rights Asylum Seekers Migrants Tags Europe’s Migration Crisis

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21/11/2017

How Europe exported its refugee crisis to north Africa | World news | The Guardian

How Europe exported its refugee crisis to north Africa Fewer people are crossing the Mediterranean, but a nightmarish bottleneck has been created instead Mark Rice-Oxley and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels Monday 30 October 2017 05.00 GMT

Something happened to the deadly migrant trail into Europe in 2017. It dried up. Not completely, but palpably. In the high summer, peak time for traffic across the Mediterranean, numbers fell by as much as 70%.

This was no random occurrence. Even before the mass arrival of more than a million migrants and refugees into Europe in 2015, European policymakers had been desperately seeking solutions that would not just deal with those already here, but prevent more from coming.

From Berlin to Brussels it is clear: there cannot be an open-ended invitation to the miserable millions of Europe’s southern and eastern periphery.

Instead, European leaders have sought to export the problem whence it came: principally north Africa. The means have been various: disrupting humanitarian rescue missions in the Mediterranean, offering aid to north African countries that commit to stemming the flow of people themselves, funding the UN to repatriate migrants stuck in Libya and beefing up the Libyan coastguard.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/30/how-europe-exported-its-refugee-crisis-to-north-africa?CMP=share_btn_tw

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How Europe exported its refugee crisis to north Africa | World news | The Guardian

The upshot has been to bottleneck the migration crisis in a part of the world least able to cope with it. Critics have said Europe is merely trying to export the problem and contain it for reasons of political expediency, but that this approach will not work.

“We are creating chaos in our own backyard and there will be a high price to pay if we don’t fix it,” said one senior European aid official, who did not wish to be named.

The new hard-headed approach crystallised with the EU-Africa trust fund in November 2015, when European leaders offered an initial €2bn to help deport unwanted migrants and prevent people from leaving in the first place. Spread between 26 countries, the fund pays for skills training in Ethiopia and antenatal care in South Sudan, as well as helping migrants stranded in north Africa return home on a voluntary basis.

Separately the European commission has signed migration deals with five African countries, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Ethiopia. These migration “compacts” tie development aid, trade and other EU policies to the EU’s agenda on returning unwanted migrants from Europe.

For instance, in the first year of the compact, Mali took back 404 voluntary returnees and accepted EU funds to beef up its internal security forces and border control and crack down on smugglers.

Detractors say the EU is “bribing” poorer countries to do Europe’s border management. Too much money is said to go to regimes people are fleeing from, such as Sudan. The EU strategy in Libya has also proved controversial, after NGOs found that women and children on the road to Europe had been beaten, raped and starved in the “living hellholes” of Libyan detention centres.

To find out more about the ramifications of this new EU approach, six European newspapers are teaming up this week to report from the region. We will investigate what is happening in Libya, how the bottleneck is driving migrants on to different, less well-travelled routes – and whether the Mediterranean horror is deterring would-be migrants from leaving their homes further south.

Politiken, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El Pais, La Stampa and the Guardian.

Since you’re here … … we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

I appreciate there not being a paywall: it is more democratic for the media to be available for all and not a commodity to be purchased by a few. I’m happy to make a contribution so others with less means still have access to information. Thomasine F-R. If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as £1, you can support the Guardian – and it only takes a minute.

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The European funding of Libya for the control of migration. A short-term solution that pushes migrants present in Libyan territory to continue to be immersed in the trafficking network, thus suffering systematic violations of human rights and assuming the loss of numerous human lives.

International Amnesty Report in relation to the impact on migrants of the Europe Agreements with the Government of Libya

A PERFECT STORM THE FAILURE OF EUROPEAN POLICIES IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN

2. THE HUMAN RIGHTS’ IMPACT OF COOPERATION WITH LIBYA FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE AT SEA

“I was taken from the street and sold to a Libyan prison. The guards asked me if I had anybody who could pay for me, or I would die there or be taken back to Sabha. The Libyan guards flogged me. I was tied by the arms, with my legs not touching the ground”.

Amadou, Gambia, May 2016.

2.1 COOPERATION WITH LIBYA TO STOP PEOPLE REACHING EUROPE European efforts to assist Libya since the fall of Gaddafi have addressed several areas. The EU is supporting the political transition and a negotiated settlement among all legitimate groups in the country, through institution building and projects aimed at restoring public infrastructure. The EU is also providing humanitarian aid to internally displaced people and other vulnerable groups in areas affected by the conflict.36 However, reducing irregular migration from Libya towards Europe is a top priority for the EU. The European Commission joint communication on “Migration on the Central Mediterranean route - Managing flows, saving lives” of January 2017 set out in some detail the EU plan to cooperate with Libya in the area of migration. 37 For an overview of EU programmes to support Libya, see EU-Libya relations, Factsheet https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/19163/EU-Libya%20relations,%20factsheet Joint Communication of the European Commission to the European Parliament, European Council and the Council on Migration on the Central Mediterranean route - Managing flows, saving lives, at https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-

36

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A PERFECT STORM THE FAILURE OF EUROPEAN POLICIES IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN Amnesty International

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The plan includes measures to step up the fight against smuggling and trafficking networks by strengthening information exchanges and coordination between the Libyan coastguard and border control agencies in other North African countries. It also includes a commitment to continue to fund training programmes for the Libyan coastguard; assist the Libyan authorities in establishing a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and improving operational cooperation with EU Member States; and support the provision to the Libyan coastguard of additional patrolling assets and ensure their maintenance.

On 3 February 2017 the European Council meeting in Malta agreed a Declaration (the Malta Declaration) focussing on the central Mediterranean route. 38 In the Declaration, EU leaders agreed to prioritize, among other measures, the provision of “training, equipment and support to the Libyan national coast guard and other relevant agencies”. EU leaders also agreed to implement measures “to ensure adequate reception capacities and conditions in Libya for migrants, together with the UNHCR and IOM”; and to support IOM in “significantly stepping up assisted voluntary return activities”.

In the Malta Declaration, EU leaders also welcomed and affirmed their support for Italy’s bilateral efforts to cooperate with Libya in the area of migration, through the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 2 February 2017 by the Italian Authorities and the Chairman of the Presidential Council al-Serraj.39 The MoU commits Italy to provide financial and technical support not only to the Libyan coastguard but also to the Libyan Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for migrants’ detention centres. Although the status of the agreement was unclear after a Tripoli court suspended it in March 2017, the two governments have continued to implement the measures and programmes articulated therein.

The centrepiece of this strategy of cooperation with Libya to reduce migration towards Europe is the strengthening of the Libyan coastguard, through training and the provision of equipment, with the clear expectation that the Libyan coastguard will prevent departures and intercept refugees and migrants in territorial waters to disembark them back in Libya.

This objective has been pursued since 2016 at considerable pace. On 20 June 2016, the EU Foreign Affairs Council expanded the mandate of EUNAVFOR MED to include capacity building and training of the Libyan Navy Coast Guard and Libyan Navy. The training of Libyan personnel was authorized on 30 August 2016 by the EU Political and Security Committee (PSC).40 The Libyan authorities have established a dedicated Libyan committee of experts to work with EUNAVFOR MED to implement the training.

The initial training took place on board EUNAVFOR MED assets on the high seas for 9341 embarked trainees and focused on basic seamanship, more advanced specialist skills as well as human rights and international law. A second package has been delivered ashore in Crete and Malta and is ongoing, with further modules due to take place in 2017 in Spain and Italy.42 Italy has also agreed to return to Libya 10 coastguard speedboats which had initially been donated to Libya

do/policies/european-agenda-migration/proposal-implementationduring Colonel Gaddafi’s rule. Four of these were delivered to Libyan authorities in May 2017, while the rest package/docs/20170125_migration_on_the_central_mediterranean_route_-_managing_flows_saving_lives_en.pdf 38 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2017/01/03-malta-declaration/ are expected to be delivered shortly. The speedboats constitute a very significant strengthening of the Libyan 39 43 Memorandumcapacity d'intesa sulla nel campo delloand sviluppo, del contrasto all'immigrazione illegale, al traffico di esseri umani, al coastguard to cooperazione patrol territorial waters the high seas beyond. contrabbando e sul rafforzamento della sicurezza delle frontiere tra lo Stato della Libia e la Repubblica Italiana, available at http://www.statewatch.org/news/2017/feb/it-libya-memo-immigration-border-security-2-2-17.pdf.

The MoUInternational repeatedly usesthat the term In March 2017, Italian coastguard officials at MRCC Rome confirmed to Amnesty they had “clandestine” referred to migrants and does not mention refugees and asylum-seekers. The MoU states at Article 1 that Italy will provide been requested by the Italian government to assist the Libyan authorities in setting up a Libyan MRCC, with technical and technological support to Libyan agencies in charge of combating “clandestine migration”, namely “border guards and coast a view to Libya able toagencies coordinate search and rescue activities inAtitsArticle own2,search andcommit rescue guards of the Ministryeventually of Defence, being and competent and departments of the Ministry of Interior”. the parties to take actionzone. with regard the upgrading andthe financing of “above for migrants (the preamblethat to the (SAR) Theytoestimated that process wouldmentioned take at reception least 18centres” months, and underscored it agreement was refers “temporary reception on camps the exclusive controlinstitution-building of the Libyan Ministry ofefforts.

Interior”Arather thannational to centres) through EU and verytomuch dependent theunder success of broader stable authority was, Italian funds, with Italy contributing medicines and medical equipment to treat transmissible and grave chronic diseases. Also under Article view, essential to establishing adequately SARthezone.

2in thetheir parties commit to take action with regard to and the training of Libyanservicing personnel a inside reception centres to tackle “illegal migrants’ conditions”, and to support “Libyan research centres operating in this sector, so that they can contribute to the identification of the most appropriate methods to tackle clandestine migration and trafficking of human beings”. Under Article 3 a committee of representatives of the two countries is set up to oversee the implementation of the agreement and the prioritization of measures. In Article 5 the parties commit to implement the agreement in compliance with international law, including human rights treaties.

40 EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia starts training of Libyan Navy Coast Guard and Libyan Navy (27 October 2016), https://eeas.europa.eu/csdp-missions-operations/eunavfor-med/13195/eunavfor-med-operation-sophia-starts-training-libyan-navy-coastguard-and-libyan-navy_en 41 According to information provided at the SHADE MED Forum organized by EUNAVFORMED operation SOPHIA in Rome on 8-9 June There can be no mistaking the objective of European leaders in focusing on training and empowering the 2017 42 EUNAVFOR MED Operation Libyan Navy Coast Guard andas Libyan 27 Operational October 2016, Update provided Libyan coastguard and Sophia navy. starts One training of the ofconclusions put forward partNavy, of the https://eeas.europa.eu/csdp-missions-operations/eunavfor-med/13195/eunavfor-med-operation-sophia-starts-training-libyan-navy-coastby EUNAVFOR MED at the 8-9 June 2017 SHADE MED Forum was that the Libyan coastguard training is guard-and-libyan-navy_fr. According to information provided at the At the SHADE MED Forum organized by EUNAVFORMED operation “the fastest to June deliver effect in reducing and intercepting the smuggler SOPHIA in Romeway on 8-9 2017, the training has beenirregular organized migrant to include flows three packages: the first package, which took activities place afloat inside territorial waters”.

In 2016, according to IOM data, the Libyan coastguard intercepted and brought on EU ships between 16 October 2016 and 13 February 2017, has been completed, delivering the training of three patrol boat crew

2.2 CONCERNS REGARDING THE LIBYAN COASTGUARD

2.2 CONCERNS REGARDING THE LIBYAN COASTGUARD There can be no mistaking the objective of European leaders in focusing on training and empowering the Libyan coastguard and navy. One of the conclusions put forward as part of the Operational Update provided

by EUNAVFOR MED at the 8-9 June 2017 SHADE MED Forum was that the Libyan coastguard training is “the fastest way to deliver effect in reducing irregular migrant flows and intercepting the smuggler activities inside territorial waters”. In 2016, according to IOM data, the Libyan coastguard intercepted and brought back to Libya 18,904 people.44 There are two glaring problems with this approach. The first is that the Libyan coastguard is currently very far from being able to carry out search and rescue functions properly. The second is that the disembarkation of those rescued back in Libya exposes refugees and migrants to a whole host of violations and abuses. All migration control and search and rescue cooperation with the Libyan authorities needs to acknowledge these fundamental facts and be designed to minimise the dangers and human rights violations to which they expose refugees and migrants. This requires a very different approach to the one adopted currently, which appears almost exclusively driven by the desire to reduce departures from Libya and secure the interception and return to Libya of those who do embark. While the EU should, certainly, be exploring every avenue to save lives at sea – including through improving search and rescue capacity in Libyan territorial waters – it is critical that it does this with due regard – and due influence over – the performance of the Libyan coastguard.

Currently, however, the cooperation with, and the training of, the Libyan coastguard are taking place without an adequate accountability framework and of monitoring systems to assess the conduct and performance of the Libyan coastguard and navy officers to ensure that they uphold international human rights law and standards. The lack of such accountability and monitoring framework emerged clearly from the dialogue with EUNAVFOR MED officers at the working group on cooperation with the Libyan coastguard during the SHared Awareness and DEconfliction (SHADE MED) Forum organized by EUNAVFOR MED operation SOPHIA in Rome on 8-9 June 2017.

The training and cooperation with the Libyan Coastguard and Navy is being implemented at speed, while there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the level of control exercised by the internationally recognized Libyan government and the Libyan coastguard authorities over all its units and officers, in light of reports that irregular groups and militias are de facto exercising coastguard-like functions in certain areas of territorial waters.

The report published on 1 June 2017 by the UN Panel of Experts on Libya and addressed to the UN Security Council President contains serious allegations of collusion between factions of the coastguard and smugglers and of violations and abuses committed by coastguard factions against migrants. 45 second package took place in Greece between 30 January and 9 February, for 20 senior officers, covering migration, maritime law

Under the heading Human rights against legal migrants, theorganization report states: enforcement, crime scene investigation andviolations evidence collection, coastguard and gender awareness; and in Malta

between 6 and 17 March and 27 March and 7 April, covering operational maritime law for 12 trainees; and on scene coordination for eight “104. modules Abuseswillagainst were widely including executions, torture and on students. Planned take placemigrants in Italy in September, for five reported, patrol boat crews (75 students); maintainers (25 students), topics including electrical and operation room operators (for 25 students); for trainers (for deprivation of main food,engines, waterauxiliary and machines access and to electronics; sanitation.

The International Organization eight students); deck and petty officers (for 56 students); as well as in Spain, also in September, for maintainers and on international Migration (IOM) also reported enslavement of sub-Saharan migrants. Smugglers, as well as the maritime law (for 36 students).

43 Department Counter Illegal and coastguard, areDEconfliction directly involved in such grave According to information to provided by the LibyanMigration coastguard at the the SHared Awareness and (SHADE MED) Forum organized

by EUNAVFOR MED rights operation SOPHIA in Rome 8-9 “105.

June 2017, Libyan coastguard currently five patrol boats (including the four human violations. [...]”;onand Abdtheal-Rahman Milad (aliashas Bija), and other coastguard returned by Italy); three smaller size patrol boats; six RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boats); and two fibreglass dory boats members, are directly involved in the sinking of migrant boats using firearms. In Zawiyah, 44 IOM, EU Train Libyan Mediterranean Migrant Rescuers, 6 January 2017, https://www.iom.int/news/iom-eu-train-libyan-mediterraneanMohammad Koshlaf opened a rudimentary detention centre for migrants in the Zawiyah refinery. migrant-rescuers

The Panel collected information on abuses against migrants by several individuals (see annex 30).

In addition, the Panel collected reports of poor conditions in migrant detention centres in Khums, Misratah and Tripoli [...]”

A PERFECT STORM

THE FAILURE OF EUROPEAN POLICIES IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN Another UN report by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Office of the High Commissioner Amnesty International for Human Rights, published in December 2016 also contained scathing allegations against members of the21 Libyan coastguard, alleged to be corrupt or of colluding with smugglers and of abusing migrants they intercepted:

“When migrant boats have been intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard, migrants are typically transferred to DCIM [Department to Counter Illegal Migration] detention facilities or to private houses and farms, sometimes for a fee, where they are often subjected to forced labour and, in the case of women, rape and other sexual violence. Libyan Coast Guard staff have apparently also seized boats and engines, and then sold them onwards. A number of migrants interviewed by

for Human Rights, published in December 2016 also contained scathing allegations against members of the Libyan coastguard, alleged to be corrupt or of colluding with smugglers and of abusing migrants they intercepted: “When migrant boats have been intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard, migrants are typically transferred to DCIM [Department to Counter Illegal Migration] detention facilities or to private houses and farms, sometimes for a fee, where they are often subjected to forced labour and, in the case of women, rape and other sexual violence. Libyan Coast Guard staff have apparently also seized boats and engines, and then sold them onwards. A number of migrants interviewed by UNSMIL who were intercepted at sea by armed men believed to be members of the Libyan Coast Guard, said that some were in military camouflage uniforms and others were in civilian clothes. The migrants were brought back to shore and made to queue, sometimes for many hours without adequate shelter. Several migrants recounted being beaten with sticks or gun butts, and robbed of their belongings, usually mobile phones and money.”46 Some of the refugees and migrants interviewed by Amnesty International in May 2017 also reported that smugglers sometimes pay coastguard officials to allow boats to leave territorial waters, or to obtain the release of intercepted people from detention centres to make them try the crossing again. The practice appears to have the effect of exposing refugees and migrants to yet more violations and abuses and adds to the danger of the sea crossing, which for some has to be attempted several times. 47

MARUF, BANGLADESH Maruf48, a young man from Bangladesh who arrived in Italy in December 2016 from Libya, after travelling via Oman, Dubai, Egypt and Turkey by plane, attempted to cross twice before succeeding on the third attempt: “We had already been stopped twice at a place with lots of lights [an oil plant off the Libyan coast]. There was a man with us with a police jacket with the writing POLICE on the back. He paid for us the first two times, and then he was taken back on a Libyan coastguard boat. So when the pirates came there was nobody who could pay anymore, so they took us back. They had guns, no uniform. The smuggler had to pay for us. The second time we were stopped by the Libyan coastguard, wearing grey uniform and big guns, on a big boat. We had left from Sabratha. Our engine broke down. We had to go back to change it.

We had it repaired, then sailed again for about one hour, when we were stopped by the Libyan coastguard.

I saw our connection man negotiating. I could tell by their body language, and I also asked somebody who spoke Arabic. They [the Libyan coastguard] wanted 50%. The connection man said no. We were 170, on 45 a rubber boat.

We of were taken back to prison and we were asked for more money.available They told Final report of the Panel Experts on Libya established pursuant to resolution 1973(2011), S/2017/466, at us: if you pay, http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/N1711623.pdf nobody will stop you this time, because we are the coastguard.

In the ‘police station’ [likely to have been 46 United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights “Detained and an irregular detention centre] in Sabratha there are about 50 people per cell.

If you agree to pay more, Dehumanised”, Report on human rights abuses against migrants in Libya , 13 December 2016, available at they take you out of the cell and put you in an open area. You wait until the sea is good. If you don’t pay, a http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/LY/DetainedAndDehumanised_en.pdf 47 See also the reportman Blaming rescuers, which the Libyan authors argue that the coastguard’s intervention Bangladeshi willthe come and inbuy you. prisons areLibyan just hell.

I was there onlysimultaneously for two daysconflicts and it with and is embedded within the smuggling business, at p. 22, https://blamingtherescuers.org/report/ was hell. There was a Pakistani guard there, the most vile person I have met. I could understand he was Pakistani because he spoke Urdu. They tell you to ring your family [to arrange for them to pay for your ‘freedom’]. They test your patience…Everything has to do with the police. The ‘connection man’ makes a deal with the police. If the connection man decides not to pay the police, you get captured…”

A PERFECT STORM THE FAILURE OF EUROPEAN POLICIES IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN Amnesty International

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Several incidents involving units of the Libyan coastguard reportedly shooting or otherwise putting at risk the safety of refugees and migrants and of NGOs’ vessels involved in search and rescue operations have also been reported in the past year, leading to considerable concerns about the Libyan coastguard’s practices, chain of command, accountability and operational skills and methods.

INCIDENT INVOLVING MSF BOAT BOURBON ARGOS, 17 AUGUST 2016 On 17 August 2016 armed men in an unidentified speedboat fired 13 shots against the decks and wheelhouse of an MsF rescue boat, the Bourbon Argos, while it was sailing in international waters at 24 nautical miles from Libyan coasts. The attackers did not identify themselves nor did they respond to communication attempts by the Bourbon Argos. The attackers shot from a distance of about 400-500

been reported in the past year, leading to considerable concerns about the Libyan coastguard’s practices, chain of command, accountability and operational skills and methods.

INCIDENT INVOLVING MSF BOAT BOURBON ARGOS, 17 AUGUST 2016 On 17 August 2016 armed men in an unidentified speedboat fired 13 shots against the decks and wheelhouse of an MsF rescue boat, the Bourbon Argos, while it was sailing in international waters at 24 nautical miles from Libyan coasts. The attackers did not identify themselves nor did they respond to communication attempts by the Bourbon Argos. The attackers shot from a distance of about 400-500 metres, and then proceeded to board the Bourbon Argos. No rescued people were on board at that point.

The armed men stayed on board the Bourbon Argos for some 50 minutes, without hurting MsF staff or removing anything. Later, seemingly as a result of media pressure, the Libyan coastguard admitted taking part in a confrontation with the Bourbon Argos. They alleged to have fired warning shots, but not to have boarded the MsF vessel. They maintained that the Bourbon Argos had not identified itself. 49 The recent report of the UN Panel of Experts on Libya states, with regard to this incident: “59. On 17 August 2016, a speedboat attacked a Médecins sans frontières vessel off the Libyan coast. Two coastguard officers from the Dallah INVOLVING coastguard SEA-WATCH, were involved21 in OCTOBER the attack.2016 The two identified attackers are loyal to Abd al-Rahman INCIDENT Milad (alias Bija), head of the Zawiyah coastguard and involved in smuggling activities.”50 According to the crew of the NGO boat Sea-Watch, on 21 October 2016, at around 2-3am, a speedboat with the writing Libyan Coastguard and some 20 armed people in some kind of military uniform approached at high speed as had started to assist a rubber boat with some 150 people on board about 14 INCIDENT INVOLVING SEA-WATCH, OCTOBER 2016waters). One of the men on board the Libyan vessel miles off the Libyan coast (two miles21 into international threw a rope onto the rubber boat in distress, a dangerous practice which has been used by the Libyan According the crew the NGO boatand Sea-Watch, on 21 October at around a speedboat coastguardtounits to towofback refugees migrant boats.

Another 2016, man stepped into2-3am, the rubber boat and with the writing Libyanand Coastguard 20 armed people in some kind military attacked the refugees migrantsand withsome a baton.

The attack caused panic onofboard theuniform rubber boat. The approached at high speed as had started to assist a rubber boat with some 150 people on board about 14 48 Libyan vessel decided to retreat, but the rubber boat started to deflate, causing the majority of the people Interviewed in May 2017 in Ragusa, Sicily off the Libyan coast (two miles into international waters).

One of thepeople, men onincluding board the Libyan vessel 49 miles on board to fall in the water.

The Sea-Watch crew managed to save 120 four people https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/28/libyan-navy-admits-confrontation-charity-rescue-boat-msf threw a rope onto the rubber boat in distress, dangerousfour practice which hasThe been used byday theaLibyan https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/03/libyan-naval-attack-on-charity-ship-adds-new-danger-to-migrant-rescue retrieved unconscious from the water, but alsoarecovered lifeless bodies. following 50 Final report of the Panel oftow Experts onnavy Libya established pursuant resolution 1973(2011), available at thatboat coastguard units back refugees and migrant boats.

Another man S/2017/466, stepped into the rubber and spokesperson for to the Libyan in Tripoli denied toattacking the migrants but acknowledged Libyan http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/N1711623.pdf attacked the refugees and migrants with a baton.

The attack caused panic on board the rubber boat.

The coastguard personnel had boarded the rubber boat. The survivors and the four bodies were later 51 Libyan vessel in decided to retreat, but theprosecutors rubber boatopened startedatocriminal deflate,investigation causing the into majority of the people disembarked Palermo, Sicily, where the incident. on board to fall in the water. The Sea-Watch crew managed to save 120 people, including four people retrieved unconscious from the water, but also recovered four lifeless bodies. The following day a A PERFECT STORM THEspokesperson FAILURE OF EUROPEAN IN THE CENTRAL forPOLICIES the Libyan navy inMEDITERRANEAN Tripoli denied attacking the migrants but acknowledged that Libyan Amnesty International 23 coastguard personnel had boarded the rubber boat. The survivors and the four bodies were later 51 disembarked in Palermo, Sicily, where prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

INCIDENT INVOLVING SEA-WATCH 2, 10 MAY 2017 In the early morning of 10 May 2017, a Libyan coastguard vessel approached a wooden boat in distress in international waters carrying almost 500 refugees and migrants at high speed, cutting in front of a small lifeboat which the Sea-Watch 2 had already lowered into the water to assist the people on the wooden INCIDENT INVOLVING2SEA-WATCH 2, 10 MAY 2017Italian coastguard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre boat. The Sea-Watch had been directed by the in Rome (MRCC Rome) to assist the boat in distress. Because the request for help had reached MRCC In the early of 10and Maymigrants 2017, awere Libyan vessel approached wooden in distress in Rome while morning the refugees stillcoastguard in Libyan waters, MRCC Romea had also boat alerted the international waters carrying almost 500 refugees and migrants at high speed, cutting in front of a small Libyan coastguard, which had decided to intervene and coordinate the rescue, exercising “on scene lifeboat which the Sea-Watch 2 had already loweredthe into the water to assist the by people on thecoastguard wooden command.”

According to the Sea-Watch 2 master, high-speed manoeuvre the Libyan boat. The Sea-Watch 2 had beenand directed by the Italian coastguard Maritime Rescue vessel Coordination vessel endangered both its own the Sea-Watch 2’s crew.

The Libyan coastguard then Centre in Rome (MRCC to assistand themigrant boat in distress. the requestcaptain for helpthreatened had reached proceeded to stopRome) the refugees boat. TheBecause Libyan coastguard theMRCC refugees Rome while the refugees and took migrants wereboat stillin indistress.

Libyan waters, MRCC Rome had alertedwere the and migrants with a gun and over the Some of the refugees andalso migrants Libyan coastguard, decided to intervene and coordinate rescue, exercising scene transferred onto thewhich Libyanhad vessel.

Libyan officials boarded the boatthe in distress, with most “on of the refugees command.”

According to the Sea-Watch 2 master, the high-speed manoeuvre by the Libyan coastguard and migrants still on board. Both the Libyan coastguard vessel and the wooden boat sailed back to 52 vessel endangered both its own and the Sea-Watch 2’s crew. The Libyan coastguard vessel then Tripoli. proceeded to stop the refugees and migrant boat. The Libyan coastguard captain threatened the refugees and migrants with a gun and took over the boat in distress. Some of the refugees and migrants were transferred onto the Libyan vessel. Libyan officials boarded the boat in distress, with most of the refugees and migrants still on board. Both the Libyan coastguard vessel and the wooden boat sailed back to Tripoli.52

INCIDENT INVOLVING NGOS JUGEND RETTET, SOS MEDITERRANEE AND SAVE THE CHILDREN’S BOATS, 23 MAY 2017 On 23 May, according to NGOs’ reports, MRCC Rome directed several vessels including their own to assist eight boats in distress about 14 nautical miles off the Libyan coast, in international waters.53 According to initial estimates, the boats needing assistance were carrying around 1,800 people. 54 Rescue operations started at about 10.30am. After about two hours, Libyan coastguard speedboats, including one with four stationary machine guns, approached the rescue area at high speed, reportedly creating large waves.

Libyan armed personnel reportedly opened fire first at a fishing boat in the vicinity, and then in the air but in close proximity of the refugees and migrants’ rubber boats. The Libyan officers boarded two of the refugees and migrant boats, started hitting the people on board and pointed large guns at them. Panic ensued and a large number of people, up to 100, jumped in the water. Because the NGOs’ crews had already distributed lifejackets shortly before the Libyan coastguard arrived, many managed to stay afloat.

67 people were rescued and taken on board the Aquarius boat of SOS Mediterranee. Two rubber boats were taken back towards Libyan waters by the Libyan coastguard. The NGOs could not say whether any of the people taken back to Libya were injured.55

As these episodes illustrate, the intervention of Libyan coastguard units in the past year has repeatedly put in danger the safety and lives of both NGOs’ crews engaged in rescue operations in international waters and also of refugees and migrants, both because they have resorted to firearms and violence but also because of their operating at sea in plain disregard of basic security protocols and standards.

After years of working on search and rescue operations in the specific context of rescuing refugees and migrants in the central Mediterranean, in addition to complying with the guidelines contained in the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual, professional military, coastguard and civilian rescue crews have developed good practices which have proven highly successful in preventing panic and capsizing and ensuring that rescues are carried out as safely as possible.

The incidents described above raise the glaring concern that the Libyan coastguard is often – even routinely - disregarding the following basic safeguards: approaching slowly to prevent destabilizing further the boats in distress; communicating with other vessels at the scene to ensure effective and best use of all resources available to maximize the saving of lives (rather than firing gunshots); avoiding approaching a boat in distress from one side, a manoeuvre which has in the past caused boats to capsize as the people on board tend to move all on the side of the vessel approaching to rescue them; identifying particularly vulnerable cases in need of emergency medical help among the refugees and migrants to be transferred first onto the rescuers’ vessel; lowering a small lifeboat into the water to carry out quick rescues during the transfer of people from the boat in distress to the rescue vessel in case someone falls in the water; distributing life-jackets; and attempting to create a calm environment to carry out the rescue in optimal safety conditions. The methods applied by the Libyan coastguard suggest that their priority is not ensuring the safe rescuing of lives, but rather returning people to Libya.56 In light of the above, Amnesty International considers that the Libyan coastguard cannot and should not be relied upon to undertake or contribute to search and rescue operations in international waters as its presence increases already high risks to safety. In the context of cooperation with Libyan authorities, EU leaders should clarify that there should be no intervention of Libyan coastguard units outside Libyan waters unless, according to the MRCC in charge of coordinating an operation (in most cases this is likely to be MRCC Rome), their intervention is absolutely necessary to save lives. In such cases, rescued people should be transferred to non-Libyan vessels involved in the operation and disembarked in a place of safety, which, as explained below, cannot currently be Libya.

See a detailed account of the incident by Human Rights Watch in EU: Shifting Rescue to Libya Risks Lives, June 2017, at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/19/eu-shifting-rescue-libya-risks-lives 54 Between 23 and 24 May the Italian coastguard coordinated 11 operations in the central Mediterranean leading to the rescue of a total of 2,100 people, including about 200 people who had fallen in the water after a large wooden boat carrying about 500 passengers capsized.

34 bodies, including of several small children, had been retrieved from the water. See Italian coastguard press releases of 23, 24 and 25 May 2017 at www.guardiacostiera.gov.it 55 http://sosmediterranee.org/1004-people-rescued-operations-disrupted-by-gunshots/?lang=en; 53

European authorities should also remind competent Libyan authorities and the Libyan Committee of Experts which meets with the representatives of EUNAVFOR MED that rescues by foreign boats within Libyan territorial waters is lawful under the law of the sea and should be allowed to take place unhindered, under the coordination of the competent MRCC (which in most cases is likely to be MRCC Rome). They should also obtain a verifiable assurance that such rescues by foreign civilian vessels including NGOs’ vessels, will be allowed to take place undisturbed and in safety.

Despite being a party to the1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR), Libya has not - so far - officially declared a search and rescue area nor created an MRCC capable of delivering the functions required under the 1979 SAR Convention. In addition, Libya is not a party to the Refugee Convention, whose principles are key in determining the place of safety where rescued people should be disembarked on the basis of the 1979 SAR Convention.57 The coordination of search and rescue operations in international waters in compliance with international law and standards requires stable institutions which Libya currently does not have. In this context, to pursue the establishment of a Libyan MRCC with a view to having it operational in 2018, as confirmed by EU official sources to Amnesty International appears at best delusional, at worst a cynical attempt to ensure that those rescued are brought back to Libya. Despite current efforts by EU and UN agencies to provide assistance to refugees and migrants at some disembarkation points in Libya, the reality remains that the vast majority of those disembarked in Libya are still transferred to detention centres to face serious human rights violations and abuse, as the next chapter documents.

2.3 HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABUSES AGAINST REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS IN LIBYA Amnesty International has repeatedly warned EU leaders that their cooperation with Libyan authorities – and particularly cooperation to enhance border and coastguard agencies’ capacity to stop people attempting to leave Libya – would result in trapping more people in Libya, where they are exposed to widespread and systematic violations and abuses.

Despite such warnings, European leaders have enhanced their cooperation with Libyan authorities, especially those responsible for border control, in the absence of any guarantees that this cooperation would prioritize or guarantee the much-needed advancements in human rights protection in the country, including the abolition of automatic detention of refugees and migrants, measures to combat their systematic illtreatment by ending impunity and cracking down on criminal networks to bring them to justice, as well as the creation of an asylum system in the country that meets international legal standards.

Italian and European authorities are well aware of the dramatic situation faced by hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants in Libya, who are exposed to ill-treatment and arbitrary detention if held in detention centres, as well as to arbitrary killings, violence and exploitation when they are free.

The descent of Libya into lawlessness and civil conflict since the end of Gaddafi’s rule in 2011 has contributed significantly over the past few years to people resorting to the central Mediterranean sea journey towards Italy as the only way out of such widespread violence and insecurity. Thousands of people originally intending to stay in Libya have found themselves unable to continue living there and with no other way out than the sea.

Living conditions have become especially unbearable for African migrants, as testimonies collected by Amnesty International show. Widespread racism accompanies endemic violations and abuses against black Africans who are routinely exploited for labour, kidnapped and held for ransom, bought and sold, as the cases below demonstrate.58

57 Rescue at sea, A Guide to principles and practice as applied to refugees and migrants, by the International Maritime Organization, UNHCR and the International Chamber of Shipping, at http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/HotTopics/seamigration/Documents/UNHCRRescue_at_Sea-Guide-ENG-screen.pdf

Joseph59, a Nigerian man in his early 20s left his country after his sister died in a Boko Haram bombing in 2014, in which he was also hurt. He arrived in Italy in July 2016, but had initially wanted to stay in Libya: “In Sabha I was kidnapped for six months and imprisoned by the Asma boys (criminal gangs). I did not have anybody to call [to pay ransom]. I escaped, while Libyan guards were shooting at us. I was very weak because they did not give us food. An Arab man took me home with him. I stayed with him for two months, working to build houses, without being paid. I had been in Libya for a year and wanted to stay there. One day in 2016, I was still in Sabha, the Arab man I was living with told me to pick up my clothes and follow another Arab man, who took me to Tripoli and organized my boat crossing.”

In the accounts of people who have travelled through Libya in the past few years, the figure of the ‘connection man’ is often mentioned. The ‘connection man’ is the link between the refugee or migrant and the smuggler who organizes the boat journey. He receives the payment for the crossing. The ‘connection man’ often places those who want to cross in a ‘connection house’. This is a closed place, where people are held for a few days up to some months until a boat for them becomes available. In the ‘connection house’ conditions can vary, but they can often be abysmal. Extreme overcrowding, lack of food and clean water, occasionally beatings, are frequently reported. In recent testimonies, those held in the ‘connection house’ often have to pay for their food and drinks.

Samuel60, a 22 year old Nigerian man who left Nigeria after his parents died in a Boko Haram attack against a church in Maduga in 2010, told Amnesty International that between December 2016 and January 2017 lots of black people were terrified of being shot at in Tripoli: “I worked in a hospital and was sleeping in a rented house. After Christmas, there was a lot of fighting. I could not go to work anymore because it was too dangerous. Lots of black people were being killed. God saved me. I was hiding. I could not come out. I had friends, but after this attack, they all scattered. The attack lasted a month. Nobody was coming out of their refuges. In February, a man rescued us [sic]. He asked us: what are you going to do, the only way out is the sea. He took us to Sabratha, to a ‘connection man’.” The ‘connection man’ asked for 1,000 dinars. I paid. I had the money on me because one cannot put it anywhere else in Libya. I stayed in the ‘connection house’ until 21 May. It was terrible. There were 80 of us, all men. We were given two meals a day.

If we wanted anything else, like drinks or water, we had to ask the ‘connection man’ to buy them for us and pay him. On 21 May in the afternoon they told us they would push us out at sea that night.”

Abukafir (mentioned above) was detained, bought and sold while in Libya: “The driver took us to Sabha and sold us to Abukafir prison [after which he chose his name for this report]. I spent one month there. They give you a telephone to call your people. [He laughs] The Libyan people are crazy! Every day they used a baton to beat me under the knees and the soles of my feet, all the weak points. The moment somebody answers the phone, they shoot a gun by your head. I paid 96,000 Gambian dalasi. Now, I had no more money. I spent one month in Sabha, working. It was not safe, there was fighting, blacks were killed randomly. I managed to go to Tripoli.

There was a Gambian man called Sanko in Benwalid. I gave him money to reach Tripoli through the desert. Before getting there, I do not know if he sold us, but another car came to pick us up to get to Tripoli. In Tripoli we were slaves. We had a boss and employers would come and take us and pay him. We were transporting bricks. One day there was a Libyan woman looking for workers. She took me to her home, to do cleaning. She had one child and told me her husband had died. She wanted to force me to sleep with her. She threatened to report me. I knew that if she reported me I would be killed. I did not like what she was doing to me. After some time, she asked me if I wanted to leave Libya. She gave me three choices: I could become a soldier for the Libyans; or I could be smuggled to Tunisia; or she could pay me a boat ride to Italy. I was scared of being smuggled again to go to Tunisia. I chose to become a soldier. In Libya, every city has its own soldiers. The Libyans want blacks because they think blacks are strong. But the person the woman was in contact with did not want me. So I only had one choice, the boat. I don’t know if the woman paid for me, but one day she told me: you have to go.”

Illegal entry is criminalized under Libyan law and those found guilty are fined and can also face a prison sentence. There is no asylum framework in Libya, so automatic detention applies to irregular migrants as well as to asylum-seekers and refugees. UN agencies and several human rights non-governmental organizations, including Amnesty International, have documented systemic, serious human rights violations

ITALIAN SUPPORT TO THE LIBYAN COAST GUARDS. A POSIBLE VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

21/11/2017

Italy: Navy Support for Libya May Endanger Migrants | Human Rights Watch

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Italy: Navy Support for Libya May Endanger Migrants Help for Libyan Coast Guard Risks Complicity in Abuse

(Milan) – Italy’s deployment of Navy ships to assist Libyan authorities intercept migrant boats in Libyan waters could implicate Italy in human rights abuses against migrants subsequently detained in Libya, Human Rights Watch said today.

“The Italian Navy deployment in Libyan waters could effectively lead to arbitrary detention of people in abusive conditions,” said Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “After years of saving lives at sea, Italy is preparing to help Libyan forces who are known to detain people in conditions that expose them to a real risk of torture, sexual violence, and forced labor.”

The objective of the mission approved on August 2, 2017, by the Italian parliament is to assist Libyan forces in the “fight against illegal immigration and human smuggling” through reconnaissance, surveillance, and sharing intelligence. In a public session at the Italian Parliament on August 1, Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti indicated that details of the rules of engagement would be laid down in a future technical agreement with Libyan authorities. She did not on a boat that they tried to take to Italy, after being detained at a answer Migrants numerous questions from parliament about where migrants intercepted or rescued in Libyan Navy base in Tripoli on September 20, 2015. © 2015 Reuters operations involving the Italian Navy would be disembarked.

(Milan) – Italy’sand deployment Navy ships to assist Under international regionalofhuman rights law, no one rescued or intercepted by an Libyan authorities intercept migrant boats in Libyan European Union-flagged ship or under the custody or control of an EU member state can could implicate Italy in over human abuses where they face a real risk of torture be sentwaters back to a place or handed torights authorities against migrants subsequently detained in Libya,principle.

Human or ill-treatment – known as the non-refoulement On the facts, this includes pusRights Watch said today. hbacks to Libya or handovers to Libyan forces and applies even if Italy rescues or interdicts people in Libyan territorial waters. The European Court of Human Rights affirmed this principle in a landmark 2012 ruling against Italy for its 2009 policy of intercepting migrant boats and https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/02/italy-navy-support-libya-may-endanger-migrants transferring the migrants back to Libya.

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It is unclear whether Italian officers will take control of migrant vessels or take custody of migrants in Libyan waters and if they do where those migrants would be disembarked, Human

Rights Watch said. But even if the Italian Navy simply provides intelligence to Libyan coast guard forces that leads to the foreseeable apprehension and detention of migrants in abusive conditions, Italy could share responsibility under international law for assisting Libyan authorities in committing internationally wrongful acts. Italy could also be implicated in denying people’s right to leave any country and interfering with the right to seek asylum under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Libya has not ratified the international refugee convention and does not have a functioning asylum system.

The evidence of brutality against migrants in Libya is overwhelming. A December 2016 report from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN mission in Libya documented widespread malnutrition, forced labor, illness, beatings, sexual abuse, torture, and other abuses in immigration detention centers in Libya. A German Foreign Ministry memo leaked to the media in January 2017 stated that migrants in Libya are executed, tortured, raped, extorted, and banished to the desert “on a daily basis.” Human Rights Watch has documented abuses against migrants in Libya for years, including by guards in detention centers under the Directorate for Illegal Migration (DCIM), Libyan coast guard forces, and smugglers.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has previously called on all countries to “allow civilians fleeing Libya (Libyan nationals, habitual residents of Libya, and third country nationals) access to their territories.”

The disembarkation of tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers in Italy has strained the country’s reception system and fueled a problematic political debate, Human Rights Watch said. EU governments, notably Spain and France, rejected Italy’s recent request to share greater of responsibility for allowing people rescued at sea to disembark there. EU asylum rules mean that Italy bears responsibility for processing the vast majority of asylum seekers who reach its shores. Since 2015, only 7,935 people have been relocated from Italy to other EU member states under an emergency plan meant to benefit almost 35,000.

Italy is intensifying its efforts to reduce the numbers, including by imposing a code of conduct on nongovernmental organizations performing search and rescue in the central Mediterranean. Amid serious concerns that the code of conduct will limit the ability of nongovernmental groups to operate effectively to save lives and could violate their neutrality and independence, five out of eight organizations have refused to sign. Nongovernmental groups conducted almost 40 percent of rescues in first five months of the year.

According to the International Organization for Migration, over 94,800 people have reached Italy by sea since the beginning of the year. At least 2,221 have died trying. UNHCR data shows that two-thirds of those arriving are from eight sub-Saharan African countries. Children, the majority traveling unaccompanied, make up 15 percent. Authorities have an obligation to ensure that migrants under their control or jurisdiction have the right to a fair and efficient asylum procedure and to identify vulnerable people, but are also entitled to remove people with no valid claim to remain from their territory following a procedure that guarantees their rights, Human Rights Watch said.

Italy is at the forefront of EU-sponsored efforts to train Libyan coast guard forces, establish a functioning maritime rescue coordination center, and improve detention conditions in Libya. In April, the European Commission allocated €90 million to support assistance projects for migrants in Libya, and in late July approved another €46 million to land and sea border control. Any cooperation with Libyan authorities that would result in migrants being held in Libyan custody should only take place with clear evidence that these undertakings have met human rights benchmarks, including demonstrable improvement in the treatment of migrants. This requires independent and transparent monitoring, but no dedicated independent monitoring system has been established for either the training program or Libyan detention centers.

Italian ships, including in Libyan waters, have an obligation to rescue people in distress at sea or if Libyan ships are better placed to perform the rescue, to assist Libyan coast guard forces.

To prevent abuse of migrants, Italian Navy personnel should seek to ensure that anyone rescued is disembarked in a place of safety outside Libya, Human Rights Watch said.

Italy should not assist Libyan coast guard forces to intercept migrants who are not in distress until there is a guarantee that migrants in Libya will not be subject to abuses including arbitrary detention, Human Rights Watch said. Sustained and significant improvements in conditions and treatment in detention centers, as well as in the capacity of Libyan coast guard forces to perform their duties safely and humanely would also be required.

EU countries, including Italy, should increase safe and legal channels into the EU, including working with the UNHCR to resettle recognized refugees currently in Libya. Other pathways such as humanitarian, student, work and research visas could help reduce demand for smuggling and dangerous journeys, Human Rights Watch said.

“Deputizing Libyan forces to help seal Europe’s border before ensuring that migrant’s most basic rights will be respected in Libya is unconscionable,” Sunderland said. “EU governments should be working first to end abuses against migrants in Libya, and meanwhile guarantee robust search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean, including by nongovernmental groups, and genuinely share in responsibility for disembarkation, identification, and reception.”

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT AI Index: EUR 30/6152/2017

28 April 2017

Italy: Losing the moral compass: Innuendoes against NGOs which rescue lives in the central Mediterranean In the absence of safe and legal routes into Europe, over recent years hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants have travelled irregularly, at considerable risk to their own lives. Rather than creating an orderly system offering safe avenues for people to reach Europe, and advocating for the respect and protection of human rights in countries were conflict, persecution and poverty are displacing people, European leaders have increasingly focussed on blocking borders and negotiating with human rights violating governments to stop them coming.

Tens of thousands of people are currently trapped in Libya, desperate to flee from there just as much as they are to reach Europe. The widespread, systematic and horrific violations and abuses against refugees and migrants in the country have been thoroughly documented by UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and journalists.1 Embarking on the ever more perilous sea journey to Italy remains for refugees and migrants the only chance of escaping such suffering. Over 180,000 did so in 2016 and some 37,000 so far in 2017. Over 4,500 died or disappeared at sea in 2016 and approximately 900 to date in 2017.

Refugees and migrant boats - unseaworthy, unbelievably overcrowded, with no expert seafarers on board, lacking any safety equipment and with inadequate engines and insufficient petrol – are inevitably in a situation of distress at sea. As Italian coastguard officials explained to Amnesty International back in 2014, refugees and migrant boats are in distress by definition due to their being utterly unseaworthy. Distress at sea is the trigger of the obligation to render assistance under the law of the sea. 2 Search and rescue activities in the central Mediterranean to prevent the death of the thousands of men, women and children who continue to depart from Libya in such 1

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/LY/DetainedAndDehumanised_en.pdf

https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/libya/report-libya/ 2

Amnesty International, Lives adrift: Refugees and migrants in peril in the central Mediterranean, September 2014, Index: EUR 05/006/2014, p. 35; file://intsec.amnesty.org/data/users/edepieri/Downloads/eur050062014en%20(3).pdf

conditions remain indispensable and an absolute priority. However, European leaders have chosen to prioritize instead attempts at disrupting smuggling networks and cooperating with Libyan authorities to stop people coming. While EUNAVFOR MED, an EU military operation, contributes significantly to rescues in the central Mediterranean, search and rescue is not its primary purpose. Operation Triton of the EU borders agency Frontex also contributes to search and rescue efforts, but remains focussed on patrolling the area near Italy’s southern sea borders.

In 2016, NGOs effectively stepped in to ensure considerably greater safety at sea in an area of the Mediterranean which would have otherwise remained largely unpatrolled.

Boats run by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rescued 46.796 people in the central Mediterranean in 2016, out of the total 178.415.3 As of the end of March 2017, they rescued 7.632 out of 23.832, and many more in April.4 They did so under the coordination of the Italian coastguard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome (MRCC Rome) and in compliance with the law of the sea.5 They achieved such a great success in saving lives by proactively looking out for boats in distress and staying as close as possible to where their assistance could be needed.

Europe should take pride in such an achievement by its civil society and be thankful that so many lives were saved from near certain death.

Instead, the NGOs involved have been the target of innuendoes - which remain unsubstantiated - by representatives of institutions, politicians and commentators suggesting that the very presence of their boats near Libyan territorial waters and their methods of operating encourage departures from Libya, fuelling the smuggling trade and ultimately contributing to the rising death toll at sea. Suspicions have been raised about direct contacts between the NGOs and smuggling networks. Doubts have also been cast over the source of their funds to finance search and rescue activities.

On 27 April, talking to Italian media the public prosecutor of the tribunal of Catania, Sicily, Carmelo Zuccaro, alleged that some NGOs could even be aiming to destabilize the Italian economy to take advantage from this somehow. He went on to add that while he is aware of contacts between some NGOs and smugglers, he has no evidence. The prosecutor also stated that while NGOs are extremely active, states which should provide answers are “inactive”, accusing Malta in particular of failing to respond to search and rescue events.

Allegations casting doubts over the role of NGOs can be traced back to confidential Frontex documents from late 2016, later reported in a Financial Times article of December 2016. In these documents Frontex made a number of observations regarding 3 The first NGO boat dedicated to assisting refugees and migrants, MOAS, started operating in August 2014.

Several more followed in the past two years: Seawatch, SOS Mediterranee, Sea Eye, MSF, Proactiva Open Arms, Life boat, Jugend Rettet, Boat refugee, Save the Children 4 5

http://www.guardiacostiera.gov.it/en/Pages/search-and-rescue.aspx

http://www.guardiacostiera.gov.it/en/Documents/search-and-rescue-activity/search-and-rescue-activity-andmigratory-flows-in-central-mediterranean-sea.pdf

the methods of operating of NGOs which it deemed to be facilitating the smugglers’ activities. In particular, Frontex raised the fact that NGOs operated very close to Libyan territorial waters; that when NGOs rescues increased significantly in June 2016, this coincided with a decrease of rescues initiated through a distress call from a satellite phone aboard the refugees and migrant boats directed to the Italian coastguard; that migrants appeared to be given clear indications about the route to follow to reach an NGO boat; that the NGOs were using powerful light beams to be seen from afar; and that people rescued by NGOs appeared unwilling to cooperate with anti-smuggling investigations by law enforcement officials and the NGOs staff themselves did not collect relevant evidence from refugees and migrant boats.

The Frontex documents strongly implied (and possibly stated more clearly in redacted text, that has been removed from copies that Amnesty International has been able to obtain) that rescues were being carried out directly by NGOs with no coordination via the Italian coastguard and were therefore potentially pre-arranged between the NGOs and the smugglers. This charge has since been very publicly levelled against NGOs operating in the central Mediterranean by a number of different actors.

In February 2017 Frontex director, Fabrice Leggeri, stated in interviews that NGOs constituted a pull-factor for people in Libya and that they were not cooperating sufficiently with law enforcement agencies in combatting smuggling and trafficking.

Also in February 2017 the public prosecutor of Catania confirmed to the media that his office had opened not a criminal inquiry but rather an investigation with no suspects nor for a specific criminal conduct, but aimed at looking into the methods of operating of the many new NGOs which had recently appeared on the high seas and into their financial sources, as it suspected potential collusion with smugglers.

Italian politicians of the Movimento Cinque Stelle and Lega Nord and media commentators have subsequently questioned the role and real agenda of NGOs operating at sea.

The NGOs involved in search and rescues activities have vigorously denied all the allegations and have offered numerous elements to explain why they operate as they do and how they finance their work.

Members of the Italian parliament looking into the allegations invited the Catania public prosecutor,6 the admiral in charge of Operation Sophia, Enrico Credendino 7 and a 6 Comitato parlamentare di controllo sull'attuazione dell'Accordo di Schengen, di vigilanza sull'attivitĂ di Europol, di controllo e vigilanza in materia di immigrazione

http://documenti.camera.it/leg17/resoconti/commissioni/stenografici/html/30/indag/c30_confini/2017/03/22/indi ce_stenografico.0041.html 7 Commissione parlamentare di inchiesta sul sistema di accoglienza, di identificazione ed espulsione, nonchĂŠ sulle condizioni di trattenimento dei migranti e sulle risorse pubbliche impegnate

http://www.camera.it/leg17/1058?idLegislatura=17&tipologia=audiz2&sottotipologia=audizione&anno=2017&me se=04&giorno=06&idCommissione=69&numero=0082&file=indice_stenografico

representative of one of the NGOs involved, Oscar Camps and Riccardo Gatti of Proactiva Open Arms to a number of committee hearings.8 In March 2017, Amnesty International met with officials of the Italian coastguard at MRCC Rome. In the past weeks the organization has also reviewed the considerable amount of information presented during the Italian parliament committee hearings, as well as official documents, available data and media reports.

In light of what emerges from these sources and based also on the organization’s experience in researching and monitoring search and rescue of refugees and migrants at sea, Amnesty International is concerned that a campaign of innuendo and insinuation of criminal ties to smuggling networks - based on no evidence - is putting at risk crucial lifesaving activities carried out by civil society organizations which have stepped in voluntarily where governments should have deployed their navies and resources to save lives.

In addition, Amnesty International considers that the denigration of NGOs which rescue people and try to ensure access to protection to refugees could lead to the further deterioration of the public debate over asylum and migration, legitimizing stigmatization, scapegoating, discrimination, and ultimately contributing to laying the grounds for human rights violations and abuses against migrants and refugees.

Amnesty International notes that the public prosecutor of Catania has repeatedly stated that he has no evidence to date that any criminal offence has been committed by the NGOs involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean. Italian coastguard officials at MRCC Rome explained to Amnesty International that in their role of police officials at sea, they have a duty to report to prosecutors any suspicion or evidence of illegal activities.

Amnesty International is not aware that any such activities have been reported by the Italian coastguard.

Support and praise for NGOs efforts in rescuing lives has been expressed, among others,

by Italy’s Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, and by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini. Frontex has also qualified its position regarding the role of NGOs and its spokesperson stated on 27 April that Frontex never accused NGOs, but considers that it is smugglers who take advantage of them, and this represents an “involuntary consequence” of their presence at sea.

Amnesty International urges all involved, including prosecuting authorities, to engage in responsible public communication on life and death issues such as search and rescue at sea. It also calls on European leaders to ensure that adequate resources and vessels for search and rescue operations are deployed along the routes taken by refugees and 8 4ª Commissione permanente (Difesa) del Senato, http://www.senato.it/japp/bgt/showdoc/frame.jsp?tipodoc=SommComm&leg=17&id=1013335#

migrants to ensure the greatest level of safety at sea for those fleeing Libya.

Amnesty International notes that, while the public debate is focussed on conjectures regarding the role of NGOs which continue to rescue lives at sea, European leaders continue to negotiate forms of cooperation with Libya to stop refugees and migrants from crossing the central Mediterranean. Several initiatives are ongoing in order to enable Libyan naval authorities to patrol Libyan waters, intercept refugees and migrants at sea and take them back onto Libyan soil. Last week, the Italian government delivered two patrol vessels to the Libyan coast guard, and reiterated its commitment to deliver a total of ten vessels by June 2017. This week, EU Ministers of Defence are gathering in Malta to discuss how to increase cooperation with Libya further.

Amnesty International is extremely concerned about the impact of such measures on the human rights of refugees and migrants in Libya. The organization has documented widespread and systematic arbitrary detention and torture of refugees and migrants in detention centres where they are taken after being intercepted at sea and disembarked in Libya. Men, women and children interviewed by Amnesty International have recounted how ill-treatment, rape, exploitation and extortion are rife in those centres, including in those nominally under the management of the Libyan Ministry of Interior. The organization has also documented a host of human rights abuses committed against refugees and migrants outside the detention centres, facilitated by rampant lawlessness and prevailing racism, and received reports of ill-treatment by Libyan coastguard officials on refugees and migrants.

To confront such grim situation, European governments should offer safe and legal routes into Europe for people in need of protection, and focus cooperation with Libyan authorities on measures to protect the human rights of refugees and migrants in the country – starting with an end to their arbitrary detention and ill-treatment.9 END/

9

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/03/the-human-cost-of-european-hypocrisy-on-libya/

Attacks by the Libyan coast guard to the European maritime salvage NGO´s Puting on risk the safety of the migrants during the rescue Summary of incidents provided by the NGO´s Sea Watch and Jugend Rettet

Abstract The number of violent confrontations between the Libyan coastguard and NGO search and rescue vessels has increased in the Central Mediterranean. This tendency has further itensified in the last weeks. However, in a state like Libya, where the rule of law is non-existent, one cannot consider the coastguard a sovereign entity. The coastguard in Tripoli and al-Zawijah are of significant importance to search and rescue activities. This report aims to provide brief key information about these two entities, as well as to describe some of the incidents that happened between NGO boats and the different coastguard entities.

Coastguard Tripoli The Tripoli coastguard (self-description: Coast Guard and Port Security) is the bigger one of the two coastguards and better equipped. Their headquarters are in the navy base in Tripoli since pre-revolutionary times.

EUNAVFOR Med is training large parts of the Triopi coastguard staff. Their flagship is the ‘Kifah’ (call sign 206). In May 2017, they received four more boats from the Italian Government (call signs 644, 648, 654, 656), which had already been employed for Libya under Gaddafi.

Coastguard al-Zawijah The current coastguard of al-Zawijah (self-description: al-Zawijah Coast Guard and Port Security) has only existed for approximately two years. In early summer 2015, ‘Al Bija’ (born 1986 as Abdourahman Salem Ibrahim Milad) and his comrades stormed the navy base of al-Zawijah, took over the ships and buildings and declared themselves the official coastguard of al-Zawijah.1 However, according to reports, Al Bija, commander of the self-appointed coastguard, is also the head of the local trafficking network. Ships from traffickers who do not pay him and his 37 men, tend to be intercepted and pulled back to Libya by their armed fast-boat ‘Tileel’ (call sign 267).2 Most of the interceptions happen close to the shore of al-Zawijah. In 2016, Sabratha and al-Zawijah were the biggest points of departure, and about 83% of interceptions happened there.3 Incident 1 Date: 24.04.2016 Rescue Vessel: Sea-Watch 2 Coastguard: unknown Position: 15nm north of Tripoli Description: After having been summoned by the Italian MRCC, the Sea-Watch 2 changed course towards the given position. On the way, approximately 15nm off the Libyan coast, a fast boat bearing the flag of the Libyan coastguard approached the starboard side of the Sea-Watch 2. The coastguard ship refused to communicate on the radio. They gestured towards the crew of the Sea-Watch 2, indicating that they expect them to stop the ship. Afterwards, they communicated the same message on the radio. Subsequently, a member of the coastguard shot several times with a machine gun. Two armed members of the coastguard entered the Sea-Watch 2 via the aft and stormed the bridge. They prompted the Captain to follow them to Tripoli. After extensive talks, the coastguard men abandoned their request and left the Sea-Watch 2.

Incident 2 Date: 17.08.2016 Rescue Vessel: Bourbon Argos (MSF) Coastguard: unknown Position: 25nm north of the Libyan coast Description: At 9:15 a.m. a fast boat of the Libyan coastguard approached the Bourbon Argos at high speed.

The crew of the fast boat was not willing to identify themselves and refused any communication. After re-

peated attempts to communicate, the crew of the Bourbon Argos retreated to their safe room. The fast boat started shooting at the Bourbon Argos. At least 13 bullets struck the Bourbon Argos, some of them near the bridge. After the shooting, the men of the coastguard entered the ship and searched it. After 50 minutes, they left the Bourbon Argos without taking anything.

Incident 3 Date: 09.09.2016 Rescue Vessel: Speedy (Sea-Eye) Coastguard: al-Zawijah coastguard, fast boat Tileel 267 Position: north of the 12nm zone Description: During a patrol, the fast boat ‘Speedy’ was followed by a fast boat of the Libyan coastguard from al-Zawijah. The coastguard forced the crew, who started their navigation from Tunisia, to swerve. The two crew members were separated from each other and brought to the port of al-Zawijah, where they were held captive and interrogated for three days. With the help of diplomatic support, the crew was transferred to the ‘Werra’, a tender of the German navy, which brought them back to the ‘Sea-Eye’. ‘Speedy’ remains confiscated and, according to eyewitnesses, is being used by the Libyan coastguard.

Incident 4 Date: 21.10.2016 Rescue Vessel: Sea-Watch 2 Coastguard: al-Zawijah coastguard, fast boat Tileel 267 Position: 14,5nm north of Sabratha (33°03.85’ N 012°25.29’ E) Description: At 2.30 a.m., the Sea-Watch 2 arrived near a rubber boat with approximately 150 people on board and started the distribution of life vests. At 2.50am, the coastguard from al-Zawijah arrived on site and obstructed further distribution of life saving equipment. The crew of the ‘Tileel’ did not respond to attempts to communicate from the Sea-Watch crew. One of the coastguard men entered the rubber boat and moved towards its engine while kicking and hitting people around him. After a short time, he left the rubber boat again. The ‘Tileel’ left the scene with its lights switched off. Afterwards, the tube of the rubber boat broke in the place where the Libyans had entered the boat. Panic ensued on the boat and all people ended up in the water. The Sea-Watch 2 was able to rescue 120 of them. It is estimated that 20 to 30 people drowned.

Incident 5 Date: 23.05.2017 Rescue Vessels: Aquarius (SOS Mediterranee/MSF), Iuventa (Jugend Rettet), Vos Hestia (Save the Children) Coastguard: fast boat Tileel 267 (al-Zawijah) and further unidentifiable boats Position: north of the 12nm zone off the coast of Sabratha Description: During a joint rescue operation of Jugend Rettet, Save the Children and SOS Mediterranee/MSF, the fast boat ‘Tileel 267’ from al-Zawijah approached the scene at high speed. The RHIB crew of the Aquarius had already distributed life vests to one rubber boat and evacuated 20 people from it, when they approached another rubber boat that had already lost a lot of air from the tubes. The coastguard approached the then unattended rubber boat and issued warning shots into the water and in the air. Two coastguard men entered the rubber boat at gunpoint and took all valuables, such as money and mobile phones, from the migrants.

The following panic caused 60 people to jump into the water. Because the lifevests had been distributed prior to this incident, nobody drowned.

Incident 6

Date: 15.08.2017 Rescue Vessels: Golfo Azzurro (Proactiva Open Arms) Coastguard: Tripoli coastguard, patrol boat 654 Position: 25nm north of Sabratha, (33°15.24’ N 012°38.23’ E) Description: At 3.20 p.m., the Libyan patrol vessel approached the Golfo Azzurro at a short distance and informed the crew of the Golfo Azzuro that they are in lLbyan territorial waters and they expect them to follow them to the port of Tripoli. In fact, the Golfo Azzurro was well into international waters at that time. The coastguard informed the crew of the Golfo Azzurro that they would shoot if they fail to comply with their orders. The Golfo Azzurro refused to follow the coastguard to Tripoli, after which the coastguard held them captive for an hour and a half at 25nm off the coast, before changing its course.

Incident 7 Date: 26.09.2017 Rescue Vessels: Lifeline Coastguard: Al-Zawijah coastguard, fast boat Tileel 267 Position: 19nm north of Sabratha Description: After having evacuated 60 people from a wooden boat, the ‘Tileel’ arrived at the scene, coming from the south. They refused all radio communication and approached the Lifeline on the starboard side while gesticulating towards the Lifeline crew. They tried to attach ropes to the Lifeline. After the Lifeline crew had removed the ropes, two coastguard men entered the ship without permission of the captain and demanded the handover of the 60 refugees. When the Lifeline crew declined this request, the two coastguard men were picked up by their fast boat crew, swerved and set fire to the wooden boat that still floated close to the scene.

Incident 8 Date: 06.11.2017 Rescue Vessels: Sea-Watch 3 Coastguard: Tripoli coastguard, patrol vessel 648 Position: 30nm north of Tripoli Description: After a rubber boat had issued a distress call, the MRCC in Rome assigned the Sea-Watch 3 to its rescue and ordered the vessel to change course to the position and start the rescue. The French navy vessel ‘Premier-Maître L’Herin’ (F792) and an Italian helicopter approached the scene as well. Both navy assets indicated on the radio that they were accepting the Sea-Watch 3 as on-scene commander, since it was the vessel best equipped for rescue activities. The Libyan vessel refused to communicate on the radio, even after the navy assets requested them to do so several times. Following, the Libyan vessel attempted to take over the rescue -despite their boat not being equipped for rescue activities- to take as many migrants as possible back to Libya. The rescue operation was conducted in a very dangerous and unprofessional manner, because the coastguard does not have any fast boats with which to transfer migrants, which is the usual procedure.

Many of them had to try to climb the coastguard boat in spite of their exhaustion. After some coastguard men threatened and beat the migrants, some migrants jumped back into the water. Realizing that they were losing control, the Libyan coastguard boat sped up, trying to leave the scene, while a person was still clinging to the attached ladder. Only after they had sailed a few hundred metres, the Italian navy helicopter was able to slow the coastguard boat down for a few moments, so that the person was able to climb back on board.

After the rescue, the Sea-Watch 3 had 59 migrants and one deceased child on board. According to the Libyan coasguard, they had brought 45 people back to Libya. After interviewing the survivors, the UNHCR estimates that 50 people drowned during this operation.

VIDEO of the incident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_phI-f_yFXQ

PUSHBACKS Return of Migrants from international waters to Libya by the so called Libyan Coast Guard (LYCG) 10. May 2017 Initially a near miss was induced by the behaviour of the LYCG Patrol Boat 206 with the Sea-Watch 2, which was on the way to a wooden boat in distress. Subsequently the LYCG intercepted more than 500 people on this wooden boat, which was located outside of the 12 nautic miles Libyan territorial seas. In the video record one can see how unprofessionally the operation was deployed, whilest the LYCG was hazarding life danger for the migrants therefore. For example the captain of the LYCG was targeting his handgun on the migrants.

The return operation was not documented by the Sea-Watch, but by a camera team of the German magazine DER SPIEGEL. Sources: • https://sea-watch.org/libysche-marine-bringt-bei-illegaler-rueckfuehrungsaktion-sea-watch-crew-und-fluechtende-in-akute-lebensgefahr/ • http://www.spiegel.tv/videos/207832-sea-watch-gegen-libysche-kuestenwache • https://sea-watch.org/17600/ 24. May 2017 During a sea rescue operation of the vessel AQUARIUS, being run by the organizations SOS Mediterranée and MSF, a boat of the LYCG approached and intervened at the scene. After members of the LYCG escalated the situation with gunfires into the water and in the air, about 70 people jumped into the water. Fortunately there were no causualties only due to much luck. An unknown number was forced back to Libya by the coast guards.

Source:

•

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgp4ne4NF2E

27. September 2017 About 20nm Northeast of Tripoli the LYCG intercepted a migrant boat in coordination with the Italian Nacy destroyer ANDREA DORIA. The passengers were brought back to Libya.

Source:

• http://www.grnet.it/difesa/marina/15-difesa-marina-militare-unita-della-guardia-costiera-libica-effettua-prima-operazione-di-salvataggio/ 11. October 2017 About 15nm off the shore the civil reconnaissance aircraft MOONBIRD of the NGOs HPI and Sea-Watch spotted a rubber boat with approximately 120 persons on board. The plane crew forwarded the position to MRCC Rome, which directed the vessel VOS HESTIA of Save the Children to operate the rescue. At the same time the Italian Navy destroyer ANDREA DORIA was at a position only around 7 nm off the scene.

The MOONBIRD crew was able to monitor the communications between the destroyer and the LYCG Patrol

Boat 206. At this time he LYCG patrol boat was located more than 30nm, that is more than 2 hours away from the rubber boat with the migrants in distress. Nevertheless the Italian destroyer briefed the LYCG about the boat and asked them to operate the rescue against the order from MRCC Rome, which already deployed the VOS HESTIA being significantly closer to the boat in distress. During the whole period of time there was a helicopter of the Italian destroyer in the air as well as a RHIB of the Italian Navy next to the rescue scene.

As the migrants recognized, they should be rescued by a Libyan ship, some of them jumped into the water and swam to the Italian RHIB. An unknown number of persons was taken back to Libya though. Technically the LYCG was most likely not able to become aware of the rubber boat, if the ANDREA DORIA didn‘t have updated them and therefore made the return operation of dozens of people happen.

Source: witness reports by the crew of the MOONBIRD from Sea-Watch and HPI 25. October 2017 The journalist Isobel Yeung filmed several return operations on the LYCG Patrol Boat 206, on 25.10. 2017 among other dates. As to be seen in her short documentary the rescued people were all wearing life jackets of the Italian Navy, which were obviously distributed before. In addition it becomes clear on the video records, the migrants were convinced, they would be brought to Italy. The position data, as to be seen in the documentary on the bridge of the LYCG patrol boat, were all about 30 nm off the shore and thus far in international waters.

Source:

•

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpAQGyp6IcY

31. October 2017 At at distance of 34nm off the Libyan coast, the crew of the AQUARIUS, vessel of the NGO SOS Mediterranée, witnessed two return operations by the LYCG. The deployment was taking place under the presence of the Italian Navy destroyer ANDREA DORIA and a helicopter of EUNAVFOR Med. It started by the AQUARIUS was being ordered to the rescue of both rubber boats by the MRCC Rome. Although, MRCC Rome informed AQUARIUS shortly before arriving the scene about the LYCG was feeling responsible and AQUARIUS should stay at a distance for safety reasons. According to LYCG they returned 299 persons back to Libya on the given day. First to Tripoli and later on the fleeing people were transfered to the DCIM in Tajoura, which is generally known for human rights violations.

Sources: • https://twitter.com/MSF_Sea/status/925357760392384513 • https://twitter.com/MSF_Sea/status/925357913958428673 • https://twitter.com/LucieLautredou/status/925368048806187008 • http://sosmediterranee.org/dramatischer-rettungseinsatz-588-menschen-auf-der-aquarius-in-sicherheit/ • https://www.libyaobserver.ly/inbrief/299-illegal-immigrants-rescued-coast-zliten 04. November 2017 In immediate proximity of an Italian coast guard vessel the LYCG intercepted a rubber boat with 150 persons on board. According to a survivor the Italian coast guard ship prevented actively the migrants from continuing the journey by blocking their boat. The LYCG coast guard colonel spoke about a cooperation with the Italians referring this rescue operation.

Source:

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-libya/bolstered-libyan-coast-guard-intercepts-packed-migrant-boat-idUSKBN1D40WR 06. November 2017 About 30nm off the shore the LYCG Patrol Boat 648 intervened in an on-going rescue operation of the SeaWatch 3. At least 51 persons lost their lives in this incident, not all by the brutal interference of the Libyans, but several. According to the LYCG 47 persons were returned to Libya (comparison: Incidents with LYCG).

Sources: • https://sea-watch.org/dramatischer-rettungseinsatz-sea-watch-3/ • https://sea-watch.org/clarification-on-the-incident-of-november-6th/ • https://sea-watch.org/update-beweise-libysche-kuestenwache/ • https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/5-migrants-die-rescue-operation-libyan-coast-coastguards-and-german-ngo-exchange-blame

Glossary: LYCG: Libyan Coastguard RHIB: rigid-hulled inflatable boat MRCC: Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre DCIM: Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration, Institution in charge of the „official“ detention centres

“I have seen people throw themselves into the water because they did not want to be returned to Libya”.

Eldiario.es 27/03/2017 http://www.eldiario.es/desalambre/Prefiero-morir-agua-regresar-Libia_0_626788010.html Fronteras

"He visto a compañeros lanzarse al agua porque no querían ser devueltos a Libia" En los dos primeros meses de 2017 el número de llegadas por el Mediterráneo Central se ha elevado un 40%, según la OIM Varios migrantes relatan los abusos sufridos a su paso por Libia mientras la UE trata de cerrar la ruta a través de un acuerdo con el país de tránsito "Prefiero morir en el agua a regresar a Libia", dice un joven guineano tras ser rescatado en el Mediterráneo Antonio Pampliega

(/autores/antonio_pampliega/) - Mediterráneo Central

27/03/2017 - 20:22h

"He visto a compañeros lanzarse al agua porque no querían ser devueltos a Libia" Refugiados y migrantes de diferentes países africanos esperan ser asistidos por una ONG a bordo de una embarcación de goma, a unos 20 kilómetros al norte de Sabratha, Libia, el 4 de marzo de 2017. AP / SANTI PALACIOS

CÉSAR DEZFULI www.cesardezfuli.com cesar.dezfuli@gmail.com