Libya’s Benghazi Hosts UN Talks on Human Rights & Prisons

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has held a series of meetings in Libya’s Benghazi focusing on human rights, prison and detainee conditions, the rule of law, and the recent resumption of executions.

UNSMIL’s Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law team met with the National Council for Public Liberties and Human Rights (NCPLHR) at its Benghazi headquarters.

The talks covered the council’s priorities and institutional needs, pressing human rights concerns and opportunities for closer cooperation.

Human rights cooperation discussed

UNSMIL said its team met the council’s acting deputy chair and staff as part of continuing dialogue and cooperation with Libya’s national human rights institutions.

The discussions examined cooperation under the Paris Principles, the international standards governing national human rights institutions.

Both sides also discussed strengthening human rights protections, the rule of law and national mechanisms responsible for addressing rights issues in Libya.

UN team meets judicial authorities

The NCPLHR facilitated separate meetings between the UNSMIL team and several authorities in Benghazi, including the military prosecutor, the public prosecutor and the head of the Judicial Police.

The UN team also met the National Committee for Monitoring the Conditions of Prisons and Prisoners.

According to UNSMIL, the discussions addressed recent human rights developments and concerns, with particular attention to detainee conditions and the situation inside prisons.

The recent resumption of executions was also discussed during the meetings, UNSMIL said, without providing further details about individual cases.

The talks form part of the UN mission’s engagement with Libyan institutions on human rights protection and the rule of law.

UNSMIL said it would continue working with national human rights institutions and relevant authorities on these issues.