Workers handle the bodies of some of the migrants that are thought to have died after their boat sunk off the coast of Libya on Feb 15, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
GENEVA — A UN fact-finding mission on Libya said on Monday that it had reasonable grounds to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity had been committed, including against migrants, and that it would relay the evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The mission, tasked with investigating abuses in the North African country since 2016, said in its final report submitted to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council that violations were committed by both state security forces and armed groups.
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Migrants, thousands of whom seek to transit through the country every year, were targeted in particular and the team of three independent investigators found "overwhelming evidence" that they had been systematically tortured.
It also had reasonable grounds to believe that they were subject to sexual slavery, it said.