The UN recognizes crimes against humanity against migrants in Libya: United Nations-backed human rights experts recently said there is evidence that crimes against humanity have been committed against Libyans and migrants in Libya, including women forced into sexual slavery.

The UN recognizes crimes against humanity against migrants in Libya

The investigators mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council also criticized the European Union for providing support to Libyan forces, which they said contributed to the crimes committed against these human beings.

“….The mission found that crimes against humanity were committed against migrants in detention facilities that are under the actual or nominal control of the illegal migration control agency, the Libyan coast guard and the stability support apparatus. And these bodies have received technical, logistical and financial assistance from the European Union,” said Mohamed Auajjar, chairman of the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya:

The detailed new report, based on interviews with hundreds of people, including migrants and witnesses, concludes a fact-finding mission established nearly three years ago to investigate human rights violations and abuses in the North African country.

“We found cases of slavery, of people who were sold to outside entities, to perform various services, but also sexual slavery of women in and around detention centers. The findings on these two elements are new to the mission and represent, I think, a very significant set of violations that we were not able to establish in our previous reporting cycles,” said Tracy Robinson, a member of the U.N. Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya.

Indeed, Here are key findings of the report:

No accountability
Widescale exploitation of migrants
Abuses in detention
Women’s rights going in reverse
Investigation mechanism still needed
Violators should be ostracized
Political deadlock

Finally, Libya, largely lawless, has become the main transit point for people seeking a better life in Europe in recent years, and activists have long denounced the horrific conditions migrants face.