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Stemming the Flow HUMAN RIGHTS Abuses Against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees WATCH PART III of a THREE-PART SERIES September 2006 Volume 18, No

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Stemming the Flow HUMAN RIGHTS Abuses Against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees WATCH PART III of a THREE-PART SERIES September 2006 Volume 18, No Libya Stemming the Flow HUMAN RIGHTS Abuses Against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees WATCH PART III OF A THREE-PART SERIES September 2006 Volume 18, No. 5(E) Stemming the Flow: Abuses Against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees I. Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Methodology.............................................................................................................................. 6 II. Key Recommendations........................................................................................................... 8 To the Government of Libya.................................................................................................. 8 To the European Union...........................................................................................................9 To the Government of Italy.................................................................................................... 9 III. Background ...........................................................................................................................10 Libya’s Geography..................................................................................................................10 Libya’s Political System..........................................................................................................10 Human Rights in Libya ..........................................................................................................11 Foreigners in Libya .................................................................................................................12 IV. Denial of the Right to Seek Asylum..................................................................................20 Draft Asylum Law ..................................................................................................................23 UNHCR in Libya....................................................................................................................23 V. Abuse during Arrest ..............................................................................................................30 Arrests on Entry and Departure...........................................................................................31 Arrests in Urban Sweeps........................................................................................................33 VI. Abuse in Detention..............................................................................................................38 Detention Conditions in Kufra.............................................................................................40 Conditions in Other Detention Facilities............................................................................44 Deportation Facilities.............................................................................................................48 Conditions in al-Fellah Deportation Center.......................................................................49 VII. Forced Return .....................................................................................................................52 The Deportation Process.......................................................................................................55 Dangers During Deportation................................................................................................56 Eritreans at High Risk of Refoulement ...............................................................................57 Temporary Reprieves for Some Nationalities ....................................................................58 VIII. Other Abuses Against Migrants and Refugees.............................................................60 Racially Motivated Violence..................................................................................................63 Foreigners in the Criminal Justice System...........................................................................67 Torture......................................................................................................................................68 Unfair Trials.............................................................................................................................72 Prison Conditions ...................................................................................................................74 Executions of Foreigners.......................................................................................................76 IX. Legal Standards.....................................................................................................................78 Libyan Law...............................................................................................................................78 Laws Regulating the Entry, Stay and Departure of Foreigners .......................................80 Other National Legislation....................................................................................................84 Libya and International Law .................................................................................................85 Libya’s Human Rights Commitments to Refugees and Migrants ...................................86 Equal Application of Human Rights Obligations to Non-Nationals.............................89 X. Role of the European Union and Italy...............................................................................91 The E.U.’s “Externalization” Agenda..................................................................................91 Libya as Partner in E.U. “Externalized” Asylum Processing...........................................93 Absence of Refugee Protection Preconditions ..................................................................96 Libya’s Reservations on Cooperation with the E.U. .........................................................98 The Italian Dimension ...........................................................................................................99 Detention in Italy..................................................................................................................103 Expulsions..............................................................................................................................106 Push-backs .............................................................................................................................113 Italy in Breach of its Human Rights Obligations.............................................................114 Lack of Legal Basis for Returns to Libya..........................................................................117 XI. Detailed Recommendations..............................................................................................119 To the Government of Libya..............................................................................................119 To the African Union...........................................................................................................121 To the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ...........................................121 To the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) .................................122 To the International Organization for Migration (IOM)................................................122 To the European Union.......................................................................................................123 To European Union Institutions and E.U. Member States ...........................................124 To the Government of Italy................................................................................................125 XII. Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................127 Appendix I..................................................................................................................................128 Introduction...........................................................................................................................128 Mistreatment During Arrest, Detention and Deportation .............................................130 The Absence of any Laws or Regulations to Govern the Asylum Process .................133 Other Mistreatment of Migrants and Refugees................................................................134 I. Summary “They kicked us, beat us, for no reason. When we asked for something to eat, the border policemen showed us a truck full of rotten food that cats were living in and told us to eat that.” —Tesfai, an Eritrean migrant woman arrested on the outskirts of Kufra in 2003 “I can’t count the number of times I was beaten up on the street by Libyans… The people in cars try to run you down. There are always insults on the street. You live in fear. I just concentrated on getting home safely from work every day.” —Ahmad, a Sudanese asylum seeker in Italy, describing conditions he experienced in Libya from 1992-2003 “They hung me by a chain from the wall. There was a stick behind my knees, and my hands were tied to it. They hung me up on the wall. I stayed like that for forty-five minutes. They were beating me during that time. They told me ‘If we kill you, no one will know.’” —Sub-Saharan African migrant describing treatment after his arrest for drugs in 2004 Not long ago, Libya opened its doors to foreigners.
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