Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Hanna Tetteh expressed alarm at the pervasive and systematic practice of enforced disappearances across the country, renewing her concern over the continued disappearance of parliamentarians Siham Sergewa and Ibrahim Al-Dersi.
In its statement marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Tetteh said UNSMIL “is gravely concerned about the continued targeting of political actors and perceived opponents, journalists, human rights defenders, activists, state officials, and ordinary citizens.”
She said “the persistence of incommunicado detention, the existence of unofficial detention facilities where torture and ill-treatment are widespread, and the routine denial of due process feed into this grave pattern.”
In a report released on June 2, Human Rights Watch said a “fragmented justice sector is suppressing fundamental freedoms and obstructing accountability for abuses in Libya.”
Referring to Sergewa and Al-Dersi, the UNSMIL said two members of the House of Representatives remain missing to this day.
Sergewa was abducted from her home in Benghazi on July 17, 2019. Debate raged over her fate in August after the circulation of leaked images allegedly showing her corpse.
Al-Dersi was abducted in eastern Libya on May 16, 2024.
On May 4, a video circulated on social media purporting to show Al-Dersi detained, chained and with visible signs of torture.
The UNSMIL had requested UN digital forensic experts to assess the authenticity of the video, while also calling on Libyan authorities to immediately launch an independent investigation into the enforced disappearance of the deputy.
In its statement on Saturday, UNSMIL said that last May, mass graves and unidentified remains were uncovered in Tripoli, including within former detention facilities, exposing the systematic nature of enforced disappearances.
“Such crimes create a climate of fear that stifles civic space, entrenches impunity, and undermines the conditions necessary for peace, credible elections, and national reconciliation,” it added.
