Status: 03/27/2023 22:04
Murder, torture, enslavement: UN experts see evidence that Libya’s coast guard has repeatedly committed serious crimes against migrants. It has been supported by the EU with logistics and finance for years.
The European Union aided and abetted crime by supporting the Libyan Coast Guard. This is the conclusion of a UN report. Chaloka Bayani, who has been investigating the situation in Libya with other independent experts on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council since 2016, urged the EU to reconsider its support for the coastguard.
Widespread violation of human rights
The experts presented their report in Geneva. You’ve been to the country several times and conducted more than 400 interviews and evaluated documents. In their report, the experts document far-reaching human rights violations against the civilian population and, above all, against migrants.
The oil-rich North African country is on one of the main routes for those looking to escape to Europe. The European Union is cooperating with the Libyan Coast Guard and is making vessels and equipment available to them. According to the EU, this agreement aims to save lives in the Mediterranean.
torture and extortion
The EU must be aware that crimes against humanity are being committed in this context, Bayani said. He emphasized: “We are not saying that the EU committed these crimes, but its support is a help to commit these crimes.”
In detention centers under the control of the Coast Guard and other state institutions, people are tortured, blackmailed, raped and murdered, others are sold into slavery and sometimes sexually exploited – a crime against humanity.
Experts: Pushbacks are illegal
“These facilities received technical, logistical and financial support from the European Union and its Member States, including for the interception and return of migrants”, says the report. Discards – when boats with refugees are intercepted near the coast and sent back to Libya – are illegal because Libyan waters are not safe, Bayani said.
Experts have reason to believe that the EU has supported the Coast Guard, technically, financially and with equipment such as boats “used in connection with the interception and detention of migrants”, the report says.
EU insists on clarification
In a specific case, the EU Commission is now demanding clarification from the Libyan coast guard. According to the humanitarian organization SOS Méditerranée, a patrol boat threatened the crew of its rescue ship “Ocean Viking” with guns and then “brutally” intercepted 80 people in distress in international waters.
As the spokesperson for the EU Commission said, authorities in Brussels are also demanding “clarification” on whether the Libyan coastguard ship allegedly involved in the incident was financed with the help of EU funds.