The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 555 (October 6 - 19 2021)

Page2 TheTrumpet OCTOBER 6 - 19 2021
News
Thousands beaten up, detained
following days of mass arrests in Tripoli
Continued from Page 1<
Following five days of mass arrests of
migrants and refugees from the streets of
Tripoli, the number of people being held
in detention centres has exploded; the
arrests and treatment during detention
have often been violent, with multiple
people beaten, injured and even killed;
people are being crammed into cells – in
sometimes so little space, they’re forced
to stand – in disgracefully unhygienic
conditions; MSF calls on the Libyan
authorities to halt the mass arrests and to
release all people unlawfully held; MSF
also urges the authorities to identify
dignified alternatives to detention and
allow the immediate resumption of
resettlements flights.
The numbers of migrants and
refugees held in detention centres
in Tripoli, Libya, have risen
dramatically – to more than threefold -
over the past five days, say teams from
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF –
which provides medical care in three
detention centres in the city – is
profoundly disturbed by the increase,
which is the direct result of five days of
random mass arrests of migrants and
refugees, including women and children,
carried out in the city since 1 October.
In the past three days, at least 5,000
migrants and refugees have been rounded
up across Tripoli by government security
forces. During the raids on their homes,
many of those captured were reportedly
subjected to severe physical violence,
including sexual violence. One young
migrant was killed and at least five others
sustained gunshot wounds, according to
the UN.
“We are seeing security forces take
extreme measures to arbitrarily detain
more vulnerable people in inhumane
conditions in severely overcrowded
facilities,” says Ellen van der Velden,
MSF’s operations manager for Libya.
“Entire families of migrants and refugees
living in Tripoli have been captured,
handcuffed and transported to various
detention centres.”
“In the process, people have been hurt
and even killed, families have been split
up and their homes have been reduced to
piles of rubble,” says van der Velden.
As a result of insecurity caused by the
ongoing raids, our teams have been
unable to run their weekly mobile clinics
across the city for vulnerable migrants
and refugees needing medical care. The
raids have also impacted people’s ability
to move freely around the city and seek
medical care, as those who have evaded
arrest are fearful of going out of doors.
“Armed and masked security men
raided our house where I was living with
three other people,” says Abdo*. “They
tied our hands behind our backs and
dragged us out of the house. We were
pleading for them to give us time to
collect our belongings and important
papers, but they wouldn’t listen.”
“We were beaten in the process. Some
people were beaten on their legs and
suffered fractures,” says Abdo. “They hit
me on the head with the butt of a gun and
I suffered serious injuries. [Later] the
doctor had to stitch the wound and wrap
it with 10 different dressings.”
“The masked men led us all into
vehicles, then we found ourselves in
Ghout Sha’al Detention Centre. I was
there for four days and experienced a
very difficult time, seeing helpless people
being beaten with weapons,” Abdo
continues. “On the fourth day, I managed
to escape. I am free now. I am free.”
Those arrested have been taken to
State-run detention centres and locked up
in insanitary and severely overcrowded
cells, with little clean water, food or
access to toilets. After the violence of the
arrests, it is likely that many are in need
of urgent medical care.
In the past two days, MSF teams have
managed to visit two detention centres in
the capital where people arrested in the
recent raids are being held: Shara Zawiya
and Al-Mabani (also known as Ghout
Sha’al).
In Shara Zawiya Detention Centre,
which normally accommodates 200-250
people, an MSF team witnessed more
than 550 women and children crammed
into the cells, including pregnant women
and new-born babies. Around 120 people
were sharing just one toilet, while
buckets filled with urine were lined up
near the doors of cells. When food was
distributed, a commotion broke out as the
detained women protested against the
conditions in which they were being held.
In Al-Mabani Detention Centre, our
teams witnessed hangars and cells so
overcrowded that the men inside them
were forced to stand. Outside the cells,
hundreds of women and children were
being held in the open air, without shade
or shelter. An MSF team spoke to men
who said they had not eaten for three
days, while several women said all they
had received was a piece of bread and a
triangle of processed cheese once a day.
Our team found several men in an
unconscious state and requiring urgent
medical attention.
During their visit to Al-Mabani, our
team witnessed a group of detained
migrants and refugees attempting to
escape. They were met with extreme
violence: our team heard two rounds of
heavy gunfire at very close range and
witnessed the indiscriminate beating of a
group of men, who were later forced into
vehicles and driven to an unknown
destination.
In these very tense conditions and
with the time of their visits severely
limited, we treated 161 patients,
including three for violence-related
injuries. We also facilitated the transfer of
21 patients in need of specialist medical
care to clinics supported by MSF in
Tripoli.
MSF recently resumed medical
activities in Shara Zawiya, Al-Mabani
and Abu Salim Detention Centres in
Tripoli after almost three months of
suspension following repeated incidents
of violence against migrants and refugees
held in the facilities. The resumption of
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authorities managing these centres, in
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“Instead of increasing the number of
people held in detention centres, efforts
should be made to put an end to arbitrary
detention and close these dangerous and
uninhabitable facilities,” says van der
Velden. “More than ever before, migrants
and refugees are living in danger and are
trapped in Libya with very limited
options for a way out - as humanitarian
flights have been unjustifiably suspended
for the second time this year.”
MSF calls on the Libyan authorities
to halt the mass arrests of vulnerable
migrants and refugees, and to release all
people unlawfully held in detention
centres. MSF also urges the authorities,
with the support of relevant
organisations, to identify safe and
dignified alternatives to detention and
allow the immediate resumption of
humanitarian evacuation and
resettlements flights out of Libya.
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