The United Nations' top official in Libya said that the people of Libya “want to end the successive interim arrangements and have a strong desire for an elected and legitimate leadership to govern the country.”
Briefing the Security Council on Tuesday (22 Aug) in New York, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Abdoulaye Bathily, said, “Libyan National Army Commander Khalifa Haftar shared with me, in writing, his concerns about the draft laws, as did HoR Speaker Agila Saleh. All Libyan leaders have agreed in principle to the amendment of these drafts.”
He continued, “I am pleased to report that the President of the Presidency Council informed me of his intention to convene the leaders of the two Chambers to finetune the draft electoral laws in light of the comments of key stakeholders.”
The Special Representative for Libya urged the two chambers and the 6+6 Committee “to resume work and finalize the electoral laws to make them implementable to draw a reasonable timeline for elections.”
He said, “Our effort to facilitate a settlement over the politically contested issues between Libya’s main stakeholders intensified.”
UNSMIL’s chief noted, “I remain concerned about human rights violations, including abductions, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances in the East and West. I reinforce my call for an immediate halt to these practices, the release of persons arbitrarily detained, and independent investigations.”
He also said, “I note the recent partial access of UNSMIL to a detention center in Tripoli and call for more consistent access to places of detention throughout the country.”
Abdoulaye Bathily added, “I remain concerned about the serious humanitarian and human rights situation of migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers at the Tunisia-Libya border. While I note the recent agreement of the Tunisian and Libyan authorities to relocate several hundred individuals, people continue to be pushed across the border in remote desert areas, facing dire conditions with no access to food and water.”
He called for “an end to expulsions and urged Tunisian and Libyan authorities to ensure people are sent to safe locations and to allow the UN and partners humanitarian access to all locations.”
Libya’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Taher M. T. Elsonni, also briefed the Council today.
He said, “The Libyan people are asking the State Council and the House of Representatives to demonstrate political will and to shoulder the historical responsibility because the problem in Libya is not a legal one, but a political one.”
After the meeting, the Special Representative for Libya spoke to reporters outside the Council. He said, “When the crisis in Sudan erupted again, we were very concerned about the spillover effect on Libya. So far, we do not detect a really big spillover in the influx of refugees and asylum seekers, etc. However, we are concerned now about the situation in Chad.”
He continued, “As you know, those armed groups who are in Libya, are attempting to take advantage of a vacuum in the border area between Sudan and Libya, of course, to reactivate their, what I call, business. Unfortunately, two or three days ago, the Chadian army had clashes with one of the armed groups.”
UNSMIL’s chief concluded, “The destabilization of Niger also will have undoubtedly consequences on Libya and vice versa. So we are very concerned about the development in the Sahel in general and, of course, in Sudan.”
