Responding to reports of the arrest in Italy of Osama Njeem, long-term member of the Tripoli-based militia Deterrence Apparatus for Combatting Terrorism and Organized Crime (DACTO), based on a sealed arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, Diana Eltahawy Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office said:
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“Amnesty International has long documented horrific violations committed with total impunity at the Mitiga prison in Tripoli, under the control of DACTO. This has included torture and other ill-treatment, unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, and other crimes under international law and serious human rights violations. Instead of pursuing justice against those suspected of responsibility for crimes under international law, including members of DACTO and its commanders, successive Libyan authorities have integrated them into state institutions, showered them with high ranking positions and state salaries, emboldening them to commit further abuses and entrenching impunity.
“With no prospect of domestic accountability in Libya of powerful commanders of militias, Italy, and all members of the international community, must pursue justice for crimes under international law.
“Italy’s key role in the establishment of the world’s only permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) is marked in the name of its founding Rome Statute. As an ICC member state, Italy must fulfil its fundamental obligation to promptly arrest and surrender to the ICC all those subject to arrest warrants issued by the Court, including Osama Njeem, according to media reports.”
Background
In 2021, Osama Njeem was appointed as director of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution of the Judicial Police under the Ministry of Justice, Tripoli. In this position, he oversaw prisons, nominally under the oversight of the Judicial Police, including the Mitiga, Jdeida, Ruwaimi and Ain Zara prisons. He has headed the Judicial Police wing of the Mitiga prison since 2016.
In August 2023, DACTO participated in militia clashes in Tripoli, employing explosive weapons with wide-area effects. These clashes resulted in at least 45 deaths and over 164 injuries, including civilian casualties.
The situation in Libya was referred to the ICC by the UN Security Council in March 2011.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
