Libya: Serious Abuses Persist

Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelrahman Shalgam is meeting his US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, in Washington on January 3, 2008. Relations between the United States and oil-rich Libya have warmed, centering on business ties and counterterrorism, since Libya renounced terrorism and its weapons of mass destruction programs. The countries resumed full diplomatic relations in 2006 after a 27-year hiatus.

“We welcome improved relations between Libya and the US, but not at the expense of political prisoners, torture victims, and other Libyans who suffer abuse,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa director. “The relationship may be driven by oil contracts and counterterrorism efforts, but it should include serious talk on improving human rights and the rule of law.”

Human Rights Watch has documented three cases of political prisoners who have been “disappeared” in the past 18 months. Their cases and other human rights violations are detailed in a briefing paper released by Human Rights Watch today, “Libya: Rights at Risk."

One section of the paper documents the continued detention without charge of two Libyan men returned to Libya by the US government from Guantanamo Bay. The United States, acting in part on Libyan promises of humane treatment, sent Muhammad Abdallah Mansur al-Rimi to Libya in December 2006, followed by Sofian Ibrahim Hamad Hamoodah in September 2007.

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