Minors criticize security guards in Libya where they live in prisons | | Middle East News

A group of refugee girls living in Libyan state-run prisons have criticized security guards at the site, who are sponsored by the European Union, for arresting them, according to a report by the Associated Press.

A 17-year-old Somali girl, who was not named, told AP she had been raped by a security guard at the Shara al-Zawiya headquarters in Tripoli, April. Many of the girls from the site said the same thing, while others shared their concerns with the AP.

The boy was rescued by Libyan security forces in February more than two years after being arrested by his traffickers, who tortured him. Merchants are known to kidnap, harass and harass refugees and refugees if he wants to go to Europe.

But the 17-year-old said the abuse was rampant, but now it is the state-run security guards where many migrants or refugees are being held.

He and four other Somali youths who have been subjected to the same violence are demanding his release from the capital of Shara al-Zawiya.

It is one of the areas managed by the Department of Anti-Illegal Immigration, or DCIM, which is assisted by the European Union in its work to build Libya as a stronghold against migrants from Africa crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

“While it wasn’t the first time I’ve heard of sex, this is as painful as it was with people who should be protecting us,” the 17-year-old said in an interview with the Associated Press on a fake phone.

“You have to give something to go to the bathroom, call the family or avoid a fight,” he said. “It’s like we’re being caught by the sellers.”

The Associated Press did not recognize the victims, and the girl also asked not to be named, for fear of retaliation.

Traffickers and traffickers

Libyan traffickers and smugglers – many of them military personnel – have long been known for their brutality against refugees. But human rights groups and the United Nations say that violence also occurs in DCIM-controlled areas.

“Sexual violence and torture are rampant in refugee camps across the country,” said Tarik Lamloum, a Libyan activist working with the Belaady Organization for Human Rights.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also reported cases of rape of women in DCIM prisons or labor camps, some of which have resulted in pregnancy and childbirth in the prison, said Vincent Cochetel, a UNHCR special envoy for the Central Mediterranean.

The group of young people are the only ones migrating to Shara al-Zawiya, a place that often migrates to another country for a short time to change. Human rights groups have reportedly been pushing for release for several weeks.

After being rescued from a vendor in February, a 17-year-old girl was brought to Shara al-Zawiya by eight other girls who had moved to their homeland. Some of the others were later released unannounced.

One night in April, about midnight, he said he asked a guard to let him go to the toilet. When he finished, the guard grabbed him and held him tight, remembering.

“I was scared and I didn’t know what to do,” he told AP. The guard beat him while he was crying, suffering and begged him to come out.

“I was lucky he did it quickly.”

Then the guard ordered her to clean her clothes, she remembered, shedding tears.

When the fear returned, she went back to her room and told one of the other girls what had happened. He soon realized that he was not the only one who was harassing her. All the girls, aged 16 to 18, had been subjected to the same or worse by the guards, she said.

Sexual harassment

A 16-year-old boy in the same room told the AP that he began to be abused a few days after arriving at the hospital. When he asked the guard to call his relatives, they gave him a phone and took him out of his room to call his mother. As soon as he hung up the phone, he stood up behind her and grabbed her, she said.

He removed his hands and began to cry. The guard stopped when he realized that other staff members were on the scene, he said.

“Every day they do this,” he said. “If you refuse, you will be beaten or deprived of everything.”

The Libyan government has not responded to AP’s request.

At least two girls attempted suicide in late May following a beating and attempted rape, according to the Libyan Crime Watch group and UN agencies.

One of them, a 15-year-old, went to the hospital on May 28 and was assisted by the international aid team Doctors Without Border (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) just to return to prison.

Maya Abu Ata, speaking on behalf of MSF Libya, confirmed that members of the group would be assisting the pair at their hospital.

MSF groups “advocated for their release from prison and encouraged security forces and their various allies, but these efforts have not been successful,” he said.

Continuing to violate human rights

UNHCR says it is working with Libyan authorities to release five girls still in Shara al-Zawiya and deport them from Libya.

The issue of youth in Shara al-Zawiya also raises questions about the EU’s role in the crackdown on refugees and those seeking refuge in Libya.

The EU trains, prepares and assists the Libyan Army to receive people trying to cross the Central Mediterranean into Europe.

At least 677 people are reported dead or missing taking the route in unsuitable boats so far this year.

About 13,000 men, women and children – registration number – have been captured by the Libyan Coast army and returned to the Libyan coast from the beginning of the year until June 12. Most are placed in DCIM-controlled areas.

In some of DCIM’s 29 constituencies in the country, human rights groups reported on poor hygiene, health care, food and water and beatings and torture. DCIM receives assistance, donations and training, including human rights, through the EU $ 5.1bn Trust Fund for Africa.

Libya has been hit by a white man over the end of last year’s war and by-elections earlier this year, prompting European leaders to visit and reopen other embassies. Although political stability is evident, human rights activists and human rights organizations say their access to migrants is declining.

“Guns are silent, firefighting is on the horizon … but human rights abuses continue,” said Suki Nagra, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Libya, who is following reports of violence in Shara al-Zawiya.

Even when cases are reported and the perpetrators are arrested, they are usually released for lack of witnesses ready to testify for fear of reprisals. For example, Abdel-Rahman Milad, who was under UN sanctions and was arrested last year on charges of human trafficking and smuggling, traveled freely in April without trial.