The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, denounced during a videoconference of the Security Council of the United Nations, an increasingly important use of mines and explosives against civilians in Libya.
“We have received credible information about the increasing use of mines and improvised explosives against civilians,” she said, as her services investigate human rights violations in Libya. “These discoveries were made after the withdrawal of forces in Tripoli and its surroundings“, she said, implicitly targeting the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a strong man from the east of the country opposed to the Unity Government national recognized by the UN and based in Tripoli.
The two parties have observed a ceasefire since October and began political talks in Tunisia earlier this week under the auspices of the UN on a new unified government and the organization of elections.
“Mines and improvised explosives would have been placed in garages, kitchens and rooms of private houses“, protested Fatou Bensouda. “Many civilians who returned home after fleeing the fighting were either killed or injured because such devices had trapped their homes,” she said, recalling that the use of landmines against civilians is a “crime” under international law.
