Muhammed Artimah
16 October 2021•Update: 17 October 2021
TRIPOLI, Libya
A local Libyan NGO has called for suing the militias of warlord Khalifa Haftar for the crimes they committed during their military offensive on the capital, Tripoli, in 2019.
In a video appeal, Kamal Al-Jamal, the head of the Association of the Families of the Martyrs of Volcano of Anger, urged the families “to hurry up to the judicial and executive authorities to initiate a public lawsuit” against Haftar’s militias.
Haftar's militias, with the support of Arab and European countries, launched a military offensive on April 4, 2019, to retake Tripoli. However, the legitimate government was able, with Turkish security assistance, to foil Haftar’s attempts.
Hundreds of Libyan soldiers and civilians were killed and injured in Haftar’s assault, which also left a vast trail of destruction.
“Justice will not be realized unless the perpetrators are truly held accountable by the judicial authorities,” Al-Jamal said, noting that complaints submitted to the Public Prosecutor have so far been "neglected and placed in the drawers.”
Established in August 2020, the association’s main objective is to support the families of Libyan soldiers and civilians who lost their lives to wars.
A total of 2,180 families are registered in the association.
On Thursday, 55 Libyan lawmakers criticized "international silence" over the mass graves unearthed from time to time in the city of Tarhuna, south of Tripoli.
According to official Libyan sources, Haftar’s forces and affiliated militias committed war crimes and acts of genocide between April 2019 and June 2020.
Since June last year following the defeat of Haftar’s forces in the western areas of Libya, the Libyan government has discovered around 300 bodies in mass graves in Tarhuna and south of Tripoli.
Libya has been torn by civil war since the overthrow and killing of long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
* Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar
