The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya released a report [7] March 27 finding [8] grounds to believe Libyan authorities and armed groups have been responsible for "a wide array" of war crimes and crimes against humanity in recent years. The report further charged that European Union states have been complicit in crimes against humanity [9] by Libyan forces targeting migrants trying to reach Europe. Legally barred from deporting migrants to Libya, EU governments instead give funding and technical aid [10] to the Libyan Coast Guard, which has been accused [11] of widespread "arbitrary detention, murder, torture, rape, enslavement and enforced disappearance" against migrants since 2016. (UN News [13], TNH [14])
A separate report meanwhile documents direct illegal abuses against migrants by the security forces of European states. The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture & Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on March 30 published [15] a report detailing "unlawful pushback practices and ill-treatment of foreign nationals" throughout 2022. These findings come after various monitoring visits to the land and sea borders of the Council of Europe member states. (Jurist [16])
