AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

Government of National Accord (GNA), which
emerged from UN-backed talks, failed to
consolidate power on the ground. Its
legitimacy remained contested by Libya’s
recognized Parliament and forces supporting
rival former governments based in Tripoli, on
the one hand, and Tobruk and al-Bayda, on
the other. IS lost its stronghold in the city of
Sirte to pro-GNA forces after months of
fighting which caused another wave of
displacement. The conflict continued to be
marked on all sides by serious violations of
international humanitarian law, including war
crimes. Various forces attacked hospitals and
carried out indiscriminate air strikes and
artillery attacks that killed and injured
civilians; in June, the World Health
Organization reported that 60% of public
hospitals in areas of conflict had ceased to
function or were inaccessible.
Armed groups and militias in Libya also
carried out abductions, holding victims as
hostages for prisoner exchange or ransom,
and detained civilians on account of their
origin, opinions or perceived political or tribal
affiliations. IS forces summarily killed
captured opposition fighters and civilians in
areas they controlled or contested. Other
forces, including those affiliated with the
GNA, also committed unlawful killings in
Tripoli, Benghazi and elsewhere.
Years of internecine strife in Libya, just as
in other countries engulfed in armed conflict,
had a devastating impact on the enjoyment of
economic, social and cultural rights, as
access to food, electricity, health care,
education and other services was severely
curtailed.
INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
The armed conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Iraq
and Libya were all exacerbated to some
extent by foreign involvement. Europeans and
other nationals travelled to the region to fight
for IS, while Russian, US, Turkish, Saudi
Arabian and other armed forces from the
region and elsewhere left their deadly mark.
In Syria, government forces recaptured
significant territory from opposing armed
groups in 2016, aided by Shi’a militia fighters
from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran and an intensive
Russian bombing campaign that killed and
injured thousands of civilians in oppositionheld
areas. A US-led military coalition also
conducted air strikes against IS and other
armed groups in Syria and Iraq, killing and
injuring civilians, and US forces carried out
strikes in Libya and Yemen. The Saudi
Arabia-led military coalition in Yemen used
internationally banned cluster munitions and
other weapons obtained from the USA, the
UK and other states in indiscriminate attacks
on areas controlled by the Huthis and their
allies, in which civilians were killed.
Meanwhile the UN Security Council,
critically hamstrung by divisions between its
permanent member states, continued to fail
to do its job of addressing threats to
international peace and security and
protecting civilians. UN efforts to promote
peace negotiations made little or no progress
while UN agencies struggled to address the
humanitarian needs that the conflicts
generated among the tens of thousands of
civilians forced to living under siege, and the
millions internally displaced or seeking safety
as refugees.
FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION,
ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY
All across the region, state authorities unduly
restricted and impeded exercise of the rights
to freedom of expression, association and
peaceful assembly. Most governments
maintained and enforced laws that
criminalized peaceful speech, writing or other
expression, including social media and other
online comment, that they deemed critical,
offensive or insulting to public authorities,
symbols or religion, or that disclosed
information they wished to withhold. In
Bahrain, the authorities prosecuted and
imprisoned human rights defenders on
charges that included “inciting hatred against
the regime” and for criticizing Saudi Arabian
bombing raids in Yemen, and barred media
outlets from employing journalists deemed to
have “insulted” Bahrain or other Gulf states.
In Iran, the authorities prosecuted and
imprisoned scores of peaceful critics on
50 Amnesty International Report 2016/17