{"id":256888,"date":"2023-04-07T13:13:46","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T11:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/press\/weak-united-nations-resolution-on-libya-exposes-european-union-bias?lang=en"},"modified":"2023-04-07T13:13:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T11:13:46","slug":"weak-united-nations-resolution-on-libya-exposes-european-union-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/weak-united-nations-resolution-on-libya-exposes-european-union-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Weak United Nations Resolution on Libya Exposes European Union Bias"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/60d80c333445d54\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/60d80c333445d54\" alt=\"Human Rights Watch (HRW)\" style=\"max-width:500px\" \/><\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/download\/60d80c333445d54\">Download logo<\/a><br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/africarc\/loganalytics?press_id=249489&amp;press_source=Human Rights Watch (HRW)\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The contrast between the resolution on Libya adopted this week at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and the UN Fact-Finding Mission&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/hrbodies\/hrcouncil\/sessions-regular\/session50\/A_HRC_52_83_AdvanceEditedVersion-EN.docx\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">final report<\/a>&nbsp;detailing violations and abuses in Libya is staggering.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>On the one hand,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/hrbodies\/hrcouncil\/sessions-regular\/session50\/A_HRC_52_83_AdvanceEditedVersion-EN.docx\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">UN experts<\/a>&nbsp;documented in the report a &ldquo;wide array of&nbsp;<span aria-label=\"Explain glossary term war crimes\" data-tooltip=\"War crimes are serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by individuals with criminal intent. Criminal intent means the violation was carried out deliberately or recklessly. Individuals who order, assist, and aid and abet offenses are also responsible for war crimes.\" title=\"war crimes\">war crimes<\/span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<span aria-label=\"Explain glossary term crimes against humanity\" data-tooltip=\"Crimes against humanity are certain crimes (for example murder, torture, deportation or apartheid) committed by members of government forces or a non-state armed group that are knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a specific civilian population. Widespread could mean many attacks or one major attack. Systematic means the attack was well planned by those who carried it out.\" title=\"crimes against humanity\">crimes against humanity<\/span>&rdquo; against Libyans and migrants stranded in Libya,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/news\/2023\/04\/human-rights-council-hears-there-are-reasonable-grounds-believe-crimes-against\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">pointed<\/a>&nbsp;out that the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2023\/02\/08\/already-complicit-libya-migrant-abuse-eu-doubles-down-support\">EU-backed Libyan Coast Guards<\/a>&nbsp;were among main culprits committing crimes against migrants, and called on the EU to stop their support.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the HRC&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ap.ohchr.org\/documents\/dpage_e.aspx?si=A\/HRC\/52\/L.33\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">feeble resolution<\/a>, instead of insisting on accountability for abuses, limited itself to supporting UN capacity-building and technical assistance to the government in Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>How did that happen? The Libya resolution was drafted by the Libyan government itself &ndash; an established practice at the HRC that is abused by governments looking to evade scrutiny. Instead of strengthening the text that Libya drafted, the EU proposed only marginal tweaks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Fsam1ktXwAA50Gb?format=png&amp;name=medium\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Italy and Malta<\/a>&nbsp;even gave their formal blessing to Libya&rsquo;s toothless draft by formally co-sponsoring it.<\/p>\n<p>The resolution is a double failure for the EU. First, a failure to apply the same standards across situations of grave human rights violations and to support accountability where international crimes are documented.<\/p>\n<p>Second, a failure to acknowledge the Fact-Finding Mission&rsquo;s conclusion that its key partners in Libya are committing crimes against humanity. Instead, the EU &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeas.europa.eu\/delegations\/un-geneva\/hrc52-interactive-dialogue-fact-finding-mission-libya_en?s=62\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">took issue<\/a>&rdquo; with findings criticizing the EU by saying its cooperation with Libya aims at strengthening migration management and respect for human rights, and acquiesced in a resolution that buried any relevant follow-up reporting process to the UN report.<\/p>\n<p>The EU should urgently change course. It should endorse and push for implementation and follow-up to the report recommendation and that of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2023\/04\/human-rights-spotlight-libya-must-be-maintained-turk\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">UN Human Rights chief<\/a>&nbsp;that the Human Rights Council should at a next session establish an independent mechanism to monitor human rights violations in Libya.<\/p>\n<p style=\"clear:both\">The EU should also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2023\/03\/15\/more-migrant-deaths-mediterranean\">suspend cooperation with Libyan<\/a>&nbsp;authorities and implement strict human rights due diligence in its funding to third countries until they stop sending people to places where they face abuse and inhumane detention conditions. Every day the EU ignores well-documented and increasing evidence of crimes by entities it supports in Libya, it becomes even more complicit in abuses in the Mediterranean and in Libya.<\/p>\n<p><i>Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/\">Source: Africa Newsroom &#8211; APO<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Download logo The contrast between the resolution on Libya adopted this week at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and the UN Fact-Finding Mission&rsquo;s&nbsp;final report&nbsp;detailing violations and abuses in Libya is staggering. On the one hand,&nbsp;UN experts&nbsp;documented in the report a &ldquo;wide array of&nbsp;war crimes&nbsp;and&nbsp;crimes against humanity&rdquo; against Libyans and migrants stranded in Libya,&nbsp;pointed&nbsp;out that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[4585],"class_list":{"0":"post-256888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa-news-2","8":"tag-apo","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/weak-united-nations-resolution-on-libya-exposes-european-union-bias.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}