Military sources affiliated with the forces of the Libyan National Accord government published photos of a prison that belonged to the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar during its control of the city of Tarhuna, where they tortured opponents.
According to the sources, the prisoners were crammed into narrow and contiguous iron boxes, and then the fire over the boxes burned to torture those inside.
Rights activists and local Libyan pages circulated a video showing small rooms they said were prisons belonging to the "Al-Kaniyat" militias fighting alongside Haftar forces, who were found in Tarhuna, western Libya.
The clip shows small sized iron rooms one meter long, one meter wide and one meter high, according to the video’s description.
Cells and torture
The Sanad Monitoring and Verification Unit in the digital sector of Al-Jazeera obtained an exclusive video clip from a former detainee at the same detention facility in Tarhuna.
The detainee, whose name has been withheld, stated that these cells were intended for breeding dogs, and Haftar's "Al-Kaniyat" militia used them to detain the detainees unilaterally, explaining that they were being set on fire as a form of torture.
There was no official statement issued by the Ministry of Interior or those concerned in the Al-Wefaq government to confirm whether or not it was brought.
It is reported that clips showing similar cells were published in Tarhuna in early June, the same size and form.
International investigation
Yesterday evening, Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Al-Wefaq government said that the International Criminal Court agreed to send a team to investigate the crimes committed in Tarhuna and south of Tripoli.
The ministry’s spokesman quoted the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, who expected her to start the team’s mission in the second half of this month.
In the view of those responsible for the human rights file, sending investigative missions is a necessary means, not only for accountability, but also for preventing conflicts.
Russia's position
In political developments related to the Libyan crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced today, Wednesday, that retired Major General Khalifa Hifter is ready to sign a ceasefire agreement in Libya, accusing the government of reconciliation of not wanting to do so.
This came in a statement after a virtual conference he held with his counterparts from the countries of the Republic of the Congo, Egypt and South Africa, according to the Russian TASS news agency.
"At some point when we invited the main leaders Khalifa Haftar, Fayez al-Sarraj and Aqila Saleh in January this year before the Berlin conference, Haftar's forces believed that their position on the ground was stronger, and he was not prepared to sign a document that Sarraj considered acceptable," Lavrov said.
"Now, Haftar's forces are - according to our assessments - ready to sign such a document regarding an immediate ceasefire, but this time the Tripoli government is the one that does not want to do that relying on a military solution," he added.
The Russian minister expressed his regret that despite the announcement by all parties that there is no military solution to the Libyan conflict, this does not translate into practical steps, he said.