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February 16, 2012

Report: Libyan Militias Torturing Gaddafi Loyalists 
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In news from Libya, Amnesty International is warning armed militias are
committing widespread human rights abuses without punishment. In a new
report, Amnesty says the Libyan government has turned a blind eye to the
militias, which mostly target those believed to be loyalists of the
slain leader Muammar Gaddafi. The report's co-author, Amnesty's Cartsen
Jugersen, called for the militias to be reined in.

Carsten Jugersen: "The problem is that these militias are de facto above
the law. They are not being held accountable for what they are doing and
the authorities do not dare to do so. We are calling on the authorities
to at first make sure that those detention centers — which are
existing throughout the country where people continue to be tortured and
abused — that these detention centers are closed. And then they
have to send a clear message to these militias by starting to prosecute
perpetrators of crimes, particularly where people have died."



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