Atwasat

Rights group: 50 detained in Derna after prison escape




Alwasat - Cairo Tue 08 Mar 2022, 01:21 PM
alwasat radio

Fifty people were arrested in Derna following a prison escape earlier this year, a rights group said Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) launched the crackdown after five prisoners escaped from a Derna prison on Jan. 16.

It said the five prisoners were arrested again four days later. But the Tarek Bin Ziyad Battalion continued to detain others in the city, including relatives of the five and former detainees and their families.

“Once again, unaccountable LAAF forces resort to brutal tactics to instill fear and terror among Derna residents,” said Eric Goldstein, deputy regional director at HRW.

Goldstein called fort the release of those arbitrarily detained and reveal the whereabouts of anyone still in detention.

A spokesman for the LAAF was not immediately available for comment.

The LAAF, led by Khalifa Haftar, controls Libya’s east and much of the south. It captured Derna after fighting with militant groups in 2018.

Haftar’s forces have brought a sense of stability in areas they control but they employed a more aggressive crackdown on activists and NGOs.

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