At least nine bodies have been discovered in a new mass grave in the western Libyan city of Tarhouna, forces of the Government of National Unity (GNA), recognized by the UN, announced on Monday.
“Nine bodies were discovered and removed from the ground Sunday (…) on a site which is suspected of harboring mass graves, in the city of Tarhouna,” according to a statement by pro-GNA forces published on Facebook. The Authority responsible for the search and identification of the missing – which reports to the GNA – continues its search for other mass graves, “left by the criminal gangs of al-Kani, one of the militias pro-Haftar before their flight “from Tarhouna, the statement added.
After launching an offensive in April 2019 on the GNA headquarters in Tripoli, the troops of Marshal Haftar, a strong man from eastern Libya, had to retreat following a series of setbacks a month ago. On June 5, forces loyal to the GNA, chased rival troops from Khalifa Haftar from Tarhouna (65 km southeast of Tripoli), their last stronghold in the West.
Since April 2019, hundreds of people, including many civilians, have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced in Libya, an oil country plunged into chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. On June 11, the UN said to be “horrified” by information about the discovery of mass graves in the Tarhouna region.
After opening a series of investigations into Libya in March 2011, the International Criminal Court (ICC) warned on June 22 – through its prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda – that it “will not hesitate” to expand the scope of his investigations to the recent discovery of these mass graves. “My office has been reliably informed of the existence of eleven mass graves allegedly of the bodies of men, women and children” in and around the town of Tarhouna in Libya, said Bensouda, saying “deeply concerned “. This may “constitute evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity,” she added, according to an ICC statement.
The UN Human Rights Council, for its part, adopted a resolution on June 22 requesting the dispatch to Libya of a “fact-finding mission” responsible for documenting the abuses committed there since 2016.
–
At least nine bodies have been discovered in a new mass grave in the western Libyan city of Tarhouna, forces of the Government of National Unity (GNA), recognized by the UN, announced on Monday.
“Nine bodies were discovered and removed from the ground Sunday (…) on a site which is suspected of harboring mass graves, in the town of Tarhouna”, according to a press release …
–
