Libya, accusations against the Libyan Internal Security Agency, Amnesty International: “Let’s clarify the disappearances and arbitrary detentions in the east of the country”

ROME – The complaint Of Amnesty International it is detailed, you can read it on Blackness: “Since the beginning of 2024, heavily armed ASI (Libyan Internal Security Agency) agents have arrested, without warrants, dozens of people, including women and men over the age of seventy, taking them from their homes, streets or other public places in areas of eastern and southern Libya under the control of the Run (the self-proclaimed Libyan Arab Armed Forces).

Months and months of arbitrary detention. Those arrested were then transferred to ASI-controlled facilities, where they remained in arbitrary detention for months, without the possibility of contacting their families or lawyers; some were victims of enforced disappearances for periods of up to ten months. None of them were brought before the judicial authorities, nor had they had the opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention or been formally charged with any crime”. Victims of the repression were not only political opponents, but also activists, writers and bloggers.

What are Laaf and ASI. The Run are a powerful armed group under the control of the Haftar family that controls the east of the country. They have a hybrid role in the security sector: institutional and at the same time “informal” with “terrorist” military actions. The ASI operates under the authority in fact of the Laaf and is led by Ousama Al-Dressi. A sum of 179 billion Libyan dinars (about 34 billion euros), approved in July 2024 by the parliament of Benghazi and allied with the Laaf, provides for the financing of armed groups, including the ASI, known for previous human rights violations.

The other separate entity in western Libya. A separate entity, also called ASI, operates in western Libya and is led by Lotfi al-Harari, under the authority of the Government of National Accord based in Tripoli. It is supposed to preserve “the entity of the state, protect its political, social and economic security and combat terrorism, destructive phenomena, dangers and threats that target its religious and social values ​​and undermine its reputation or international relations,” according to its internal paget.

The dark deaths in the centers. Second Amnestybetween April and July two people died in custody under suspicious circumstances while held in ASI-controlled detention centers in Benghazi and Ajdabiya. No independent and impartial criminal investigations were launched. A situation that photographs how the culture of impunity is now widespread in the country. Especially in the east.

Impunity must end. Amnesty launches an appeal both to the Government of National Unity based in Tripoli and to the FAAL that “must guarantee the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression”. Not only that: “The FAAL must suspend ASI commanders and members suspected of crimes under international law and serious human rights violations”.