The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in Britain (AOHR) has said that “retired Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar bears full responsibility for the crime of abduction of the Libyan MP Siham Sergiwa and other crimes of kidnapping and assassinations, aimed at terrorising all his opponents and keeping them away from public state affairs so that he can commit his crimes and violations without opposition.”
AOHR, issued a statement today, stating that the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and France, are implicated in these crimes. The statement reads: “these crimes would not have continued without material and military support coming from those countries.”
The statement criticised the international stance on the kidnapping of MP Siham Sergiwa. It read: “despite evidence confirming the involvement of Khalifa Haftar’s militias in that crime, the UN’s response – through a statement by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya – was feeble. This contained general expressions of condemnation but did not refer to those responsible for it.”
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The AOHR called on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into the crimes committed by the armed militias of the Libyan National Army and hold the perpetrators, led by Haftar, responsible for their wrongdoings.
The AOHR also called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the international community to intervene to reveal the fate of the MP Sirgewa and put an end to the UAE, Egyptian, Saudi and French support for Haftar’s forces.
Libyan MP Siham Sirgewa was abducted from her home in Benghazi at dawn on Wednesday (17 July) after shooters stormed her home and beat her family, in addition to shooting live bullets, injuring her husband in the eye and leg before they kidnapped her. Thus, her fate is still unknown.
In the aftermath of the attack, the gunmen wrote words at the entrance to the house stating: “the army is a red line and so is ‘Awliya Al-Dam’”. ‘Awliya Al-Dam’ is an armed group linked to Khalifa Haftar’s forces and involved in many crimes in Libya.
Witnesses said the vehicles carrying the attackers belonged to the 106th Battalion, which is one of the largest military brigades controlled by Haftar. Thus, Haftar depends on this faction, led by his sons Khalid and Saddam, in his various missions.