Iraq News Now

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human

Rights: Rupert

Colville
Location: Geneva

Date: 20 December 2019

Subject: (1) Libya
(2) Iraq
(3) Poland
(4) Yemen

1) Libya

We are

concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in

Libya, including the impact of the ongoing conflict on

civilians, attacks against human rights defenders and

journalists, treatment of migrants and refugees, conditions

of detention and impunity.

In 2019, our Office

along with the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has so

far documented at least 284 civilian deaths and 363 injuries

as a result of the armed conflict in Libya – an increase

of more than a quarter over the number of casualties

recorded during the same period last year.

Airstrikes were the leading cause of civilian

casualties, accounting for 182 deaths and 212 injuries,

followed by ground fighting, improvised explosive devices,

abductions and killings. During the same period, the World

Health Organization has documented 61 conflict-related

attacks against health care facilities and personnel, which

is a 69 percent increase compared to the same period in

2018.

We have grave concerns about the impact the

conflict is having on densely populated areas such as Abu

Salim and Al Hadba, where an additional 100,000 civilians

are at risk of being displaced, on top of the 343,000 who

already have been.

Journalists, media workers and

human rights defenders continue to be subjected to violence,

threats and harassment. In the most recent such case, Reda

Fhelboom, a well-known human rights defender and journalist,

was detained on 14 December by an armed group at Mitiga

airport in Tripoli, following his arrival from Tunis. We are

concerned that his subsequent disappearance may be linked to

his human rights or journalistic work. His disappearance is

a violation of Libya’s obligations to ensure his human

rights. We have also observed an increase in cases of hate

speech and incitement to violence fueling a climate of

mistrust, fear and violence among different groups in

Libya.

As you know, the treatment of migrants and

refugees in Libya has been a matter of huge concern over the

past few years, and they continue to be routinely subjected

to violations and abuses, including extrajudicial and

arbitrary killings, arbitrary detention, enforced

disappearances, torture, sexual and gender-based violence,

abduction for ransom, extortion, and forced labour, by State

officials, traffickers and smugglers.

Between

January and November, more than 8,600 migrants were

intercepted at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard and returned to

Libya, which of course cannot be considered by any stretch

of the imagination as a safe port for disembarkation. Many

of those intercepted were returned to official and

unofficial detention centres where they are routinely

subjected to serious human rights violations and abuses. We

are also concerned that parties to the conflict in Libya

continue to store weapons and ammunition in close proximity

to civilian locations, particularly detention centres where

migrants and refugees are being detained. We remind the

parties of their obligation to take all feasible precautions

against the effects of attacks.

To date in 2019,

an estimated 8,813 individuals have been held in 28 official

prisons under the authority of the Ministry of Justice, of

whom an estimated 60 percent were in pre-trial detention. We

have continued to receive credible reports of arbitrary

detention, torture, enforced disappearances, sexual and

gender-based violence, and overcrowding in detention

facilities under the control of the Ministry of the

Interior. Conditions in unofficial places of detention,

often run by armed groups, are even more difficult to

monitor and are likely to be even worse.

Finally, we

are concerned about the continuing climate of impunity in

Libya, including the 15 December acquittal by the Tripoli

Appeals Court of all the defendants, including former

intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi, in the trial relating

to the 1996 massacre of 1,200 people in the Abu Salim prison

in Tripoli. The Abu Salim massacre was one of the grievances

that gave rise to the 2011 uprising in Libya. We reiterate

the call made in September for the creation of an

investigative mechanism into serious crimes committed in

Libya.

2)

Iraq

We are concerned by

the continued pattern of deadly attacks in Iraq against

human rights defenders, civil society activists and

protesters. During the past 10 days alone, we have received

credible reports of at least six separate incidents in

Baghdad, Missan, Karbala and Diwaniya, resulting in three

deaths and six people injured.

• On 8

December and again, seven days later, on 15 December,

improvised explosive devices attached to vehicles detonated

in Diwaniya and Karbala, injuring three civil society

activists, who had participated in demonstrations and appear

to have been directly targeted.
• On 8

December, in Amara city in Missan governorate, a human

rights activist survived an attempt to kill him while on his

way to visit a friend, but was seriously injured in the

attack.
• Also on 8 December, in Karbala city,

a civil society activist was shot dead while riding his

motorbike. Two other people on the motorbike were

unharmed.
• On 10 December, another human

rights activist was shot and killed in Baghdad when leaving

a protest site.
• On 14 December, three civil

society activists were gunned down from a pickup truck in

Baghdad. One of them was killed, and the other two wounded.

All three had been volunteers providing bread to protesters

during the demonstrations.

We are following-up other

allegations of targeted killings.

Currently, we have

insufficient information to determine who the perpetrators

of these latest attacks are, but witnesses and local people

we have spoken to say they believe groups whom they describe

as ‘militias’ are responsible. We are not aware of any

progress made by the Iraqi authorities in tracking those

responsible for these attacks.

The killings of civil

society activists are occurring against a backdrop of

disappearances of high-profile protesters in Baghdad. Many

of those arrested by Iraqi security forces are being held in

what may amount to incommunicado detention. Others are

believed to have been abducted by groups referred to as

‘militias’, and they are at serious risk of

ill-treatment. Both security forces and these so-called

‘militias’ are clearly targeting well-known

demonstrators and activists. We are closely monitoring all

cases that come to our attention.

A report issued

last week by the Human Rights Office of the UN Assistance

Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) called for prompt and independent

investigations into all demonstration-related deaths since 1

October. The report also called for immediate steps to

prevent deliberate killings of human rights defenders and

immediate action to release abductees from any form of

unlawful detention.

3)

Poland

We are concerned by

draft legislation, submitted to the Polish parliament on 12

December, which risks further jeopardizing the independence

of the judiciary in Poland and would place constraints on

judges in exercising their freedom of association and

freedom of expression. It could even result in judges being

dismissed if they question the Government’s judicial

reform.

The draft act which amends the existing law

on the structure of common courts, the law on the Supreme

Court and a number of other acts, may also

prevent judges from fulfilling their legal obligation, under

EU treaties, to apply EU law. In general, it risks further

undermining the already heavily challenged independence of

the judiciary in Poland.

We understand some

amendments, proposed by the ruling party, were apparently

provided to the draft law overnight. However, I am unable to

say whether these mitigate some of the concerns over the

draft law, as the new version with amendments was not

available online as of early this morning. The second

reading of the draft at the Parliament was scheduled to take

place this morning

We urge the Polish Government and

the members of the Parliament (Sejm) to consider carefully

the potential impact of the draft legislation on the rule of

law.

As a State Party to the International Covenant

on Civil and Political Rights Poland is required to ensure

the independence of the judiciary, and as an incoming member

of the UN Human Rights Council, Poland is also expected to

set a high standard of compliance with international human

rights law.

Any measures which are contrary to the

separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary

should immediately be lifted.

4)

Yemen

The High

Commissioner Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday appointed Dr. Ardi

Imseis of Canada as a new member of the Group of Eminent

Experts on Yemen, to replace one of the three previous

members, Charles Garraway (United Kingdom), who has had to

step down for health reasons. The two other previous

members, Chairperson Kamel Jendoubi (Tunisia) and Melissa

Parke (Australia), were reappointed on the same day.

The mandate of the Group of Eminent International and

Regional Experts was renewed for a further one year by the

Human Rights Council on 26 September.

In their

latest report, published on 3 September 2019,

the Group of Eminent Experts detailed numerous possible war

crimes committed by various parties to the conflict over the

past five years, including through airstrikes,

indiscriminate shelling, snipers and landmines, as well as

arbitrary killings and detention, torture, sexual and

gender-based violence, and the impeding of access to

humanitarian aid.

The Group of Eminent Experts will

present their third report to the Human Rights Council in

September 2020.

To find out more about the Group of

Eminent Experts, including their mandate, biographies and

previous work, go to: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/YemenGEE/Pages/Index.aspx

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