International concern about the continued disappearance of a Libyan parliamentarian

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya expressed concern about the continued "enforced disappearance" of the Libyan Member of Parliament, Siham Serqiwa, and European parliamentarians demanded the immediate release of the female member who was kidnapped from her house in Benghazi a year ago.

In a statement to the UN mission, she said, "The Libyan authorities concerned in the east of the country (led by retired Major General Khalifa Haftar) are responsible by law for the safety and security of all persons in the territories under their control."

And she explained that "the mission is still very concerned about the safety and security of Sarqawa, in the absence of any confirmed news about its fate or whereabouts."

The UN mission called on "the Libyan authorities concerned to prevent and investigate these crimes and to bring the perpetrators to justice."

For their part, European parliamentarians demanded the immediate release of the Libyan representative, who was known to defend women's rights.

In a letter, both the Vice-President of the European Parliament and Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Chairman of the Committee on Relations with the Arab Maghreb countries confirmed that Sarqaya was targeted for her peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and her condemnation of human rights violations.

They said that one year after the kidnapping of the deputy, no investigation has been conducted regarding the circumstances of the accident and its fate remains unknown, and they regretted that the issue is not an isolated incident, as evidenced by the recent increase in kidnappings and enforced disappearances in Libya.

The three deputies demanded the immediate release of all victims of enforced disappearance in the country, and considered that conducting credible investigations into these cases is the only way forward in order to know the fate and disclosure of the whereabouts of the victims, at the same time ensuring that the perpetrators behind the kidnappings are brought to justice .

The fate of Sarkiwa, 57, was not known after she was kidnapped from her home on July 17 last year, after she demanded an end to the aggression against Tripoli. Recently, a member of the Libyan Parliament in Tobruk Issa Al-Uraibi revealed that the deputy was kidnapped and killed by an armed group known by name to the security authorities in the city of Benghazi in eastern Libya.