Armed groups must release all civilians, treat all detainees, including captured fighters, humanely, and disclose information about the fate and whereabouts of missing persons. Anyone in detention should also be allowed to have regular contact with their families.
Those abducted include activists, public officials and other civilians seized by unknown assailants based on their political affiliations or in relation to their work.
Among them are 71-year-old former General National Congress member, Suleiman Zobi, and Abdel Moez Banoun, a political rights activist and blogger, who was kidnapped from a parked car near his home after speaking out against the presence of militias in Tripoli and organizing protests on this theme. Abdel Moez Banoun has been missing for more than 300 days. His brother said he had “vanished off the face of the earth”. Nasser al-Jaroushi, a prosecutor, was abducted after investigating the murder of human rights activist Salwa Bugaighis as well as looking into criminal drug gangs.
Humanitarian aid workers Mohamed al-Tahrir Aziz, Mohamed al-Munsaf al-Shalali and Waleed Ramadan Shalhoub were abducted on 5 June as they were on their way to distribute supplies to towns affected by fighting in south-west Libya.
Others who face abductions include migrant workers, foreign consular staff, and members of the Tawargha community who were displaced from their hometown in 2011.
Amnesty International’s campaigning effort, launched today, calls on armed groups to break the pattern of abductions and take a public stand by condemning abductions and torture.
The ongoing UN-sponsored political dialogue which aims to end the violence and form a Government of National Accord also plans to address abductions and illegal detention as part of a set of confidence-building measures. Participants to the dialogue, including local municipal leaders, must now exercise their influence with commanders of armed groups and intervene for the release of all abducted civilians.
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(Source: Amnesty International)
