TRIPOLI: The UN Support Mission in Libya expressed worry over what it termed as random arrests, including those of lawyers and judges, and demanded that they be released right away.
UNSMIL is concerned about the flood of arbitrary arrests and punishments carried out by law enforcement and security forces across Libya, it said in a statement late on Saturday.
” These players are using their power of arrest and detention to objective people for their alleged social connections, to dissuade public opinion, and to undermine administrative independence,” they claim.
Libya has struggled to come out of the conflict that followed the revolt led by Moamer Kadhafi, a former dictator, in 2011.
It is still divided between a Tripoli-based UN-recognised state and an east-based rival state supported by Khalifa Haftar, a military force.
UNSMIL expressed concern over the use of filmed revelations, which “are where people are detained and coerced into” confessing” to alleged offences with video published electronically.”
It stated that the act was intended to “intimidate and embarrass” the individuals and that it was illegal.
According to the UN, Judge Ali al-Sharif, who was subjected to violence while detained on March 10 during his imprisonment in Tripoli, and lawyer Mounir al-Orfi, who has been detained in Benghazi, have been among those detained.
According to UNSMIL, two defense lawyers, Mansour Daoub and Mohammed al-Mabrouk al-Kar, have been detained in Tripoli as well since 2022.
The condition “undermines the environment needed for Libya’s political change, and weakens Libyans ‘ faith in law enforcement and security organizations that may work to protect and promote the rights of all people in Libya, never destroy them,” according to UNSMIL.
