Libya to investigate all prison ‘torture’ cases, says minister

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Saturday, 04 February 2012

Author / Source : AFP

TRIPOLI, Feb 3: Libya will investigate all cases of “torture” in prisons and bring to justice those involved in it, Justice Minister Ali Hamida Ashur told reporters on Thursday. “The Department of Justice will investigate the issue concerning the charges by international organisations about the torture of prisoners. Those involved will be brought to justice,” Ashur said as his ministry took control of a prison on the outskirts of Tripoli.
The prison in the suburb of Ain Zara is currently run by former rebels from the capital and has about 1,500 prisoners, mostly loyalists of slain Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
Ashur said the charges of torture largely “related to prisons that are not under our control,” adding that he had “no idea” how many such facilities were outside the control of his ministry.
He further said that a committee of officials from the ministries of defence, interior and justice had been formed to take control of all the prisons.
Last week two human rights groups, Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders, reported about “widespread torture” of pro-Gaddafi men in prisons run by militias as well as officially recognised military and security entities.
The two groups said such cases were observed in prisons located in Tripoli, Misrata and smaller towns such as Ghariyan. Doctors Without Borders suspended its work in Misrata over these allegations.
Another report adds: Libya’s ex-ambassador to France, Omar Brebesh, has died in the custody of a militia from possible torture, less than 24 hours after he was detained by the armed group, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
HRW said a Tripoli-based militia from the town of Zintan detained Brebesh on January 19 and that a preliminary autopsy found the cause of death included “multiple bodily injuries and fractured ribs.”
“Photos of Brebesh’s body, seen by Human Rights Watch, show welts, cuts and the apparent removal of toenails, indicating that he was tortured prior to death,” the rights watchdog said in a statement.
It said a report by the judicial police in Tripoli also found that Brebesh had died from torture and that an unnamed suspect had confessed to killing him.
Brebesh, 62, served in the Libyan embassy to France from 2004 to 2008, first as cultural attache and then as acting ambassador for the last nine months of his term, the rights group said.
He continued to work with the Libyan foreign ministry under Gaddafi’s regime during last year’s uprising and as a lawyer in the ministry under the post-Gaddafi transitional government.
HRW said that an official at the Libyan foreign ministry told the group that he saw Brebesh at work 10 days before his death, and he appeared to be in good health.
The New York-based watchdog said that according to Brebesh’s son Ziad the former ambassador had himself voluntarily submitted to an investigation by the Al-Shuhada Ashura militia in Tripoli.
On January 20 his family heard his body had appeared at a hospital in Zintan, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest of the capital.
“I saw his face. There was blood on his nose and mouth. But I didn’t see the rest of his body or his face from the other side,” HRW quoted Brebesh’s other son Mohammed as saying.
“There was a bump on his forehead. After that, I kissed him and that was it. Later, when we saw the other side of his face at the hospital in Tripoli, it looked like his jaw was broken, like his face was not in the right place.”     AFP