The United National Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) expressed its solidarity with the countless victims of enforced disappearances and missing persons in Libya, calling on relevant authorities to address enforced disappearances as part of a rights-based national reconciliation process.
UNSMIL said it had documented disappearances of perceived political opponents, politically active women and men, human rights defenders, members of parliament, lawyers, and judges as well as migrants and asylum-seekers.
"Over the years, the whereabouts of thousands of women, men and children remain unknown. Others have been illegally detained and later released while the dead bodies of other missing and disappeared persons have been found in locations throughout Libya, including in mass graves." UNSMIL said.
"The Mission reiterates that the enforced disappearance of any person, even if they are released, is a serious violation of international human rights and humanitarian law and may amount to a crime against humanity,” said The Acting Head of Mission.
The statement said the lack of truth and justice for the missing persons remain a serious human rights concern, adding that cases of enforced disappearances must be investigated, and perpetrators brought to justice.
As impunity for enforced disappearances prevails in Libya, UNSMIL called on the authorities of Libya to adopt the 2010 International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance as an indication of its commitment to address this widespread violation.
