Amnesty International Report 1998 - Libya

(This report covers the period January-December 1997)

Five prisoners of conscience arrested in 1973 continued to serve life sentences. Hundreds of political prisoners, including possible prisoners of conscience, remained in detention. Some were detained without charge or trial, others continued to be held despite acquittal by courts or following grossly unfair trials. Scores of people were arrested in connection with their religious or political activities. Torture and ill-treatment were reported. At least eight people were executed.

The UN sanctions on Libya (see previous Amnesty International Reports), imposed in 1992 in connection with the 1988 bombing of a us passenger airline, remained in force.

In March a new law came into force authorizing collective punishment for communities deemed to have protected or helped those responsible for "terrorism", acts of violence, unauthorized possession of weapons or sabotaging "people's power". Under the new law, which also provides for the punishment of those who fail to report such "criminals", the authorities could cut off water and electricity supplies, deprive villages or tribes of subsidized food, petrol and public services, and transfer development projects to other parts of the country.

An investigation into the bombing of a plane over Niger in 1989, which resulted in the deaths of all 170 passengers, was concluded in May. Six Libyan nationals, including the brother-in-law of Colonel Mu‘ammar al-Gaddafi, Head of State, were charged in connection with the bombing and were due to be tried in absentia in France in 1998. In November, five people – two Palestinians, a former Libyan diplomat and two Germans – went on trial in Berlin for their role in the 1986 bomb attack on a West Berlin discotheque frequented by off-duty us servicemen in which three people were killed and about 230 injured. Prosecutors in the case stated that the attack had been carried out on direct orders from the Libyan intelligence service and was aimed at us military personnel.

In April Libyan soldiers dismantled a camp on the border between Libya and Egypt, where around 250 Palestinian refugees had been stranded since they were forcibly expelled from Libya in 1995 (see Amnesty International Reports 1996 and 1997). The Palestinians were believed to have been forcibly relocated to another camp near Tubruq inside Libya.

Five prisoners of conscience, who were arrested in 1973 and convicted of membership of the prohibited Islamic Liberation Party, continued to serve life sentences in Abu Salim Prison in Tripoli (see previous Amnesty International Reports). They included ‘Ali Muhammad al-Qajiji and Muhammad al-Sadiq al-Tarhouni.

Hundreds of political prisoners arrested in previous years, including possible prisoners of conscience, remained held without charge or trial. Rashid ‘Abd al-Hamid al-‘Urfia, a law graduate, remained held without charge or trial in Abu Salim Prison in Tripoli. He was reportedly arrested with 20 others in 1982 on suspicion of founding an Islamist opposition group. All those arrested with him were released following a general amnesty in 1988.

Muhammad Suleiman al-Qaid, a university lecturer, remained in detention in Abu Salim Prison without charge or trial. He had been arrested in 1991 along with three other suspected opponents of the government; all were possible prisoners of conscience.

Scores of other detainees remained held despite having been tried and acquitted by courts. Others continued to serve prison sentences imposed in previous years after grossly unfair trials. They included Fakhri Younis al-Fitouri, his father, Younis ‘Issa al-Fitouri, and his brother, ‘Omran al-Fitouri, who were among a group of 23 men accused of opposition activities and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1991 following trials which failed to meet basic requirements for fair trial as set out in international standards and despite having previously been acquitted of the charges against them owing to lack of evidence.

Jum‘a Ahmad ‘Ateyqa, a possible prisoner of conscience who had been arbitrarily detained despite his acquittal in 1990 (see Amnesty International Report 1997), was released in April.

There were unconfirmed reports that Nurya Ahmad al-Firjani, a possible prisoner of conscience who had been arrested in 1995 along with her six-month-old daughter, was released at the end of 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997).

Scores of people, including possible prisoners of conscience, were detained during the year in connection with their political or religious beliefs or activities. Many were believed to have been arrested in connection with their suspected involvement with Islamist opposition groups and were thought to remain detained at the end of the year. They included Mohammad Salem, a mechanical engineer, and Salem Mu‘ammar, a businessman, who were arrested in Benghazi in June. Their whereabouts remained unknown at the end of the year.

Torture and ill-treatment were reported. Reports suggested that conditions inside Abu Salim Prison amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. For example, political prisoners and detainees were said to have frequently been subjected to sleep deprivation by the repeated, loud and prolonged broadcast of political speeches. No investigations were known to have been carried out into the killings which resulted from the mutiny in Abu Salim Prison in July 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997) or into allegations of torture and ill-treatment or into deaths in custody in previous years.

The fate and whereabouts of Ayman Salim Mohammad Dababish, a Palestinian who "disappeared" following his arrest in September 1996, remained unknown (see Amnesty International Report 1997).

In September Egyptian and Libyan government officials denied any responsibility in the "disappearance" of Mansur Kikhiya despite continuing allegations that Egyptian agents had staged his abduction in 1993. Mansur Kikhiya was handed over to the Libyan authorities and allegedly executed in January 1994. The Egyptian authorities stated that they were prepared to reopen the investigation if any new or additional information was made available. Mansur Kikhiya, a prominent Libyan opposition leader and human rights activist, "disappeared" in Egypt in December 1993 (see previous Amnesty International Reports). No new information came to light regarding the fate of Jaballah Hamed Matar and ‘Izzat Youssef al-Maqrif, who both "disappeared" in Cairo, Egypt, in March 1990.

In June an inquest held in the United Kingdom into the murder in London of ‘Ali Mohammad 'Abu-Zaid, a well-known Libyan opposition activist, recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. ‘Ali Muhammad 'Abu-Zaid was found stabbed to death in his shop in London in November 1995 in circumstances suggesting that he may have been extrajudicially executed by agents working for, or on behalf of, the Libyan authorities.

At least eight people were executed. Six senior army officers, including Colonel Miftah Qarrum al-Wirfalli, and two civilians were executed in January. All had been arrested in the aftermath of a rebellion by army units around the cities of Misrata and Bani Walid in October 1993 (see previous Amnesty International Reports) and charged with "passing defence secrets to foreign states [the United States of America]" and membership of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, an opposition group in exile. At least five others tried in the case were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 20 years.

In April there were reports that at least 10 Tunisian nationals, including the families of four, all suspected members or supporters of al-Nahda, an Islamist group banned in Tunisia, were forcibly returned to Tunisia, allegedly as a result of their suspected anti-Tunisian Government activities, where most faced serious human rights violations.

Amnesty International continued to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and for all other political prisoners to be granted fair and prompt trials or released. The organization also called on the Egyptian authorities to carry out a new inquiry into the "disappearance" of Mansur Kikhiya in light of the new allegations of Egypt's involvement

Amnesty International publicly condemned the execution of eight men in January and urged the authorities to work towards the total abolition of the death penalty. In June Amnesty International published a report, Libya: Gross human rights violations amid secrecy and isolation, which detailed the wide range of human rights violations and called on the authorities to implement the recommendations set out in the report. No response had been received by the end of the year.