La posizione di Amnesty sui rifugiati detenuti in Libia

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 19/004/200708 February 2007UA 34/07 Forcible return/Torture and ill-treatmentLIBYA 430 Eritrean nationalsAccording to reports, 430 Eritrean nationals, including over 50 womenand children, are currently detained by Libyan authorities and arefacing imminent deportation to Eritrea. Reports suggest that theLibyan authorities may have beaten and raped or sexually abused somedetainees, and some detainees may even have died in custody as aresult of such torture or other ill-treatment.According to Amnesty International' s information, of the 430detainees, 130 detainees, including several women and children, aredetained at a detention centre in al-Marj, 1,000 km from the Libyancapital Tripoli, while the remaining 300 are detained in Misratah,about 200km from Tripoli.Most of the detainees are conscripts who fled Eritrea to avoidmilitary service. The right to conscientious objection is notrecognized in Eritrea and if returned they will be at high risk ofbeing arrested and tortured. Military service in Eritrea, which, inpractice, lasts for an indefinite period, is compulsory for women andmen aged 18 to 40, although the age limit for women was reportedlyreduced to 27. There are no military courts and military offenders arearbitrarily punished with torture – being beaten and tied for hours ordays in painful positions – and indefinite incommunicado detention inharsh conditions.Groups of refugees who were forcibly returned to Eritrea from Libya in2004 and from Malta in 2002 were held incommunicado upon theirarrival. Many were tortured and some died while in custody. AmnestyInternational documented their treatment in its report Eritrea: `Youhave no right to ask' – Government resists scrutiny on human rights(AFR 64/003/2004, May 2004). In August 2006, 300 Eritreans weredetained in Libya and threatened with deportation. It however appearsthat they were not deported although the whereabouts of some of themremains unknown (see UA 225/06, MDE 19/004/2006, 24 August 2006).Libya is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights and the Organization of African Unity (OAU – now theAfrican Union) Convention on the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problemsin Africa, both of which oblige the authorities not to return anyoneto a country where they would be at risk of serious human rightsviolations, including torture. The United Nations High Commissionerfor Refugees (UNHCR) has recommended that even rejected asylum-seekersshould not be forcibly returned to Eritrea. It is not clear that thesedetainees have been allowed access to UNHCR officials in Libya or anyopportunity to formally apply for asylum.BACKGROUND INFORMATIONOn 21 July 2004, Libyan authorities deported 110 Eritrean nationals,most of them asylum seekers fleeing military conscription, back toEritrea, reportedly at the request of the Eritrean authorities. Onarrival in Eritrea they arrested, tortured and detained incommunicadoin secret military prisons. On 27 August 2004, the Libyan authoritiesattempted to deport a further 76 Eritrean asylum seekers, includingsix children. The plane was, however, hijacked by some of thepassengers and landed in Sudan. All passengers, except for thehijackers, were given refugee status in Sudan.RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly aspossible, in English or your own language:- calling on the Libyan authorities not to forcibly return anyEritrean nationals to Eritrea, where they would be at risk of torture,as well as indefinite detention without charge or trial;- reminding the Libyan authorities that they have signed theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1969Organization of African Unity Refugee Convention, both of which obligethem not to forcibly return anyone to a country where they would be atrisk of serious human rights abuses such as torture, as would be thecase in Eritrea;- calling for all Eritreans detained in Libya to be treated humanelyand given immediate access to the Office of the UN High Commissionerfor Refugees (UNHCR) in Tripoli to enable them to apply for protectionif they wish to do so.APPEALS TO:Head of StateColonel Mu`ammar AL-GADDAFIOffice of the Leader of the RevolutionTripoliGreat Socialist People's Libyan Arab JamahiriyaSalutation: Your ExcellencyPrime MinisterDr Al-Baghdadi Ali AL-MAHMOUDISecretary of the General People's CommitteeSecretariat of the General People's CommitteeTripoliGreat Socialist People's Libyan Arab JamahiriyaEmail: via the form on the government of Libya's webpage (in Arabiconly): www.gpc.gov. ly/online/ contactus. php(The form reads as follows:1- Name; 2- Email address; 3- to: (please pick the first one)TheBrother, head of the General Public Committee, Dr. al-Baghdadi Alial-Mahmoudi; 4- content; 5- send)Salutation: Your ExcellencyJustice MinisterMr Mustafa Muhammad ABDELJALILSecretary of the General People's Committee for JusticeSecretariat of the General People's Committee for JusticeTripoliGreat Socialist People's Libyan Arab JamahiriyaEmail: secretary@aladel. gov.ly Salutation: Your ExcellencyCOPIES TO:Foreign MinisterMr Abd al-Rahman Mohamed SHALGAMSecretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison andInternational CooperationSecretariat of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison andInternational CooperationTripoliGreat Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyaand to diplomatic representatives of Libya accredited to your country.PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the InternationalSecretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 22 March2007.