Over 12,000 detainees held in Libya: U.N.

There are over 12,000 people detained in 27 prisons and detention facilities across Libya, and thousands of others are being held in illegal and inhumane conditions in facilities controlled by armed groups, the United Nations chief said, Report informs, citing Daily Sabah.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the report obtained Monday by The Associated Press (A.P.) that the U.N. political mission in Libya known as UNSMIL continues to document cases of arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence and other violations of international law in facilities operated by the government and other groups.

He said the thousands of detainees who don’t appear in the official statistics provided by Libyan authorities – over 12,000 – are unable to challenge the legal basis for their continued detention.

“I remain gravely concerned by the continuing violations of the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya,” Guterres said in the report to the U.N. Security Council.

“Female and male migrants and refugees continued to face heightened risks of rape, sexual harassment and trafficking by armed groups, transnational smugglers and traffickers as well as officials from the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration, which operates under the Ministry of Interior,” he said.