Libya: mass graves at Tarhuna in human rights spotlight

Mass killings, sexual violence and abductions in the Libyan city of Tarhuna dating back to 2013 continue to go unpunished and risk fuelling more instability and division in the country, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, has warned.

A new report from UN investigators details how an armed element which emerged in 2011 following the overthrow of longtime President Muammar Gadaffi exercised brutal control over Tarhuna, a city of 150,000 people southeast of Tripoli.

The Al-Kaniyat fighters’ crimes also encompassed torture, ill-treatment and forced displacement between 2013 and 2022.

Speaking in Geneva on Friday, OHCHR spokesperson Seif Magango maintained that the “failure to deliver justice” had led to renewed violence and serious rights violations in Tarhuna and surrounding areas. He said that these findings echoed an earlier investigation commissioned by the Human Rights Council:

“The 2022 Fact-Finding Mission report detailed evidence of atrocities committed in Tarhuna, including through the discovery of mass graves containing hundreds of humans remains, most of them handcuffed, blindfolded and bearing signs of torture…the report also warned of the possibility that there could be up to 100 more such mass burial sites.”

Mr. Magango also said that Al-Kaniyat’s integration into the former Government of National Accord (GNA) and later the Libyan National Army (LNA) had also been “a significant barrier” to accountability and justice.

Humanitarian pauses in Gaza open way for polio vaccinations, says WHO

UN aid teams have reached a tentative agreement in Gaza for humanitarian pauses to allow 640,000 children to be vaccinated after the first outbreak of the virus in 25 years, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

WHO Representative Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, said that the two-round vaccination campaign is due to begin this Sunday in central Gaza for three days, then move to the southern and northern areas. A second dose will be administered after four weeks:

“We very much welcome the preliminary commitment to this, what we call area-specific humanitarian pauses during the campaign. We call on all parties to pause fighting to allow children and families to safely access health facilities and community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccination.”

In addition to the UN health agency, the campaign inside Gaza involves the Palestinian health authorities, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, UNRWA - the UN agency for Palestine refugees - and partners.

It’s been made possible by the delivery of 1.26 million doses of vaccines to Gaza and 500 vaccine carriers. According to the UN health agency, 400,000 additional doses will arrive in the war-shattered enclave soon.

Needs grow in Yemen amid catastrophic flooding, warns UNHCR

To Yemen, where catastrophic flooding has created an even worse situation for some of many millions of displaced people in the country.

That’s the stark warning from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which said on Friday that flooding in the Malhan district of Al Mahweet governorate has devastated entire communities when three dams burst following heavy rains.

In the past month, the floods have claimed 97 lives and injured many more, UNHCR reported, with more than 56,000 homes across 20 governorates affected, displacing at least 1,000 families. The hardest-hit areas include Hudaydah, Hajjah, Al-Taweela and Marib. “Impassable roads are isolating affected areas and hampering rescue efforts,” the UN agency explained.

Latest UNHCR assessments indicate that a full 85 per cent of families in Yemen’s displaced and host communities are now unable to meet their daily food needs.

“Many have resorted to extreme coping mechanisms, like reducing meal sizes or skipping meals altogether, UNHCR said, emphasizing that “entire families” face hunger every day in Yemen.

Years of fighting in the country beginning in 2015 between the Government and opposition mainly Houthi forces have created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Today, 18.2 million people - including 4.5 million displaced - are in urgent need of aid, the UN refugee agency said.

This includes more than 60,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.

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