On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Council decided to establish a fact-finding body in a positive step aimed to investigate violations by all sides in Libya.
During the council’s 43rd session, the African Group at the Human Rights Council put forward a resolution asking Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to immediately dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by all parties to the Libya conflict since the beginning of 2016.
The request also included preserving evidence with a view to ensuring that those responsible for abuses are held accountable. The resolution passed by consensus.
Why the UN Established the Committee in Libya
On his part, Eric Goldstein, acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch , said that the establishment of a fact finding mission into abuses in Libya is a wake-up call to warlords and armed groups that they could be held accountable for serious crimes committed by their rank and file.
Notably, Libya remains pided between the two entities engaged in an armed conflict since April 2019: the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Interim Government based in eastern Libya and affiliated with the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Turkey is the main military backer of the GNA, with fighters from Chad, Sudan, and Syria.
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