GNU MoFA rejects Amnesty International reports of human rights violations

May 12, 2022 | International actors

On 12 May, the Government of National Unity (GNU) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) issued a statement accusing Amnesty International of unjustified politicization and escalation in its recent reporting on Libya. In the last month Amnesty has published a series of articles documenting human rights abuses perpetrated by GNU funded armed groups based in Tripoli and Misrata, namely the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), the Internal Security Agency (ISA) and the Joint Operations Force (JOF). The MoFA stated that Amnesty had abused its cooperation with the GNU and failed to make any visits to the cited security agencies nor did it provide sufficient evidence for its claims. The MoFA threatened legal action against Amnesty. Amnesty had accused the groups of human right violations including unlawful killings, arbitrary detentions, interception and subsequent arbitrary detention of migrants and refugees, torture, and forced labour. The organisation revealed it had written to Libyan authorities demanding that Abdul-Ghani al-Kikli (Ghinaywa) and his former deputy Lotfi al-Harari be removed from their positions.