The United Nations on Tuesday urged Libyan authorities in the west of the country to probe allegations that forces allied with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) have detained and abused a group of Egyptian laborers.
"UNSMIL is concerned about the arrest, detention and ill-treatment of a large number of Egyptian nationals" in the city of Tarhuna, the UN mission said on Twitter.
It called on local authorities in Tripoli to "conduct a prompt investigation" into the acts which were potentially in "violation... (of) Libya's international human rights law obligations on the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment."
A video widely circulated on social media apparently showed the Egyptian workers forced to stand on one leg with their bare feet on the sand as they raised their hands.
They were accused of allegedly supporting the Libyan National Army (LNA), reported Egyptian media.
The video drew the ire of Egyptian officials.
It "will not pass lightly and the Egyptian state does not allow assault on its citizens abroad," Egypt's immigration minister Nabila Makram was quoted as saying in local media.
The Egyptian parliament held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss a request submitted by MP Mostafa Bakri to the Foreign Ministry over “why the GNA ambassador was still in Cairo.”
The GNA is “illegitimate” and has “flagrantly” violated human rights when its militias abducted 200 Egyptian residents in Libya and went on to torture them and force them to insult the Egyptian nation and president, as well as the LNA and its commander Khalifa Haftar, he said.
“The least we can do is expel the GNA ambassador and appoint one recommended by Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul Hadi Al-Hweij, who is a member of the legitimate government that has received the vote of confidence from the legitimate Libyan parliament,” continued the MP.
Parliament Speaker Dr. Ali Abdelaal vowed that Egypt will not abandon the rights of its people and “it will determine the time and place of its response.”
On Sunday, the GNA said an investigation would be launched into the video's authenticity.
In a Tuesday statement, the Arab League "condemned the detention and mistreatment" of the Egyptian nationals.
The bloc also welcomed the GNA "interior ministry's statement on efforts to determine the Egyptian detainees' fate and to identify the perpetrators."
LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari told a private Egyptian TV channel that the workers were being held by a militia aligned with the GNA.
"We have yet to determine their exact number but those who appeared in the video are between 19-22," he said, adding that it was not clear whether others were held.
