330 reports of missing persons ... A new mass grave was found in Tarhuna

The General Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons in Libya announced the discovery of a new mass grave in the area of ​​the connection project to the city of Tarhuna, southeast of the capital, Tripoli.

The authority of the Government of National Accord stated on its Facebook page that its teams are currently carrying out exhumation work from the mass grave.

Since the withdrawal of the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar from the vicinity of the capital, Tripoli in June, the Public Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons has received 330 reports of missing persons.

Al-Jazeera correspondent stated that since then, 125 bodies and body parts, most of which are unidentified, including children and women, have been found in 44 cemeteries in various locations in the vicinity of Tarhuna.

He said that some of the bodies were in underground water wells, reservoirs and deserted wells, and that the Commission's teams found 28 bodies and body parts in 18 graves in different locations south of the capital, Tripoli.

Call for investigation

In the context, Human Rights Watch called last Thursday on the Al-Wefaq government to investigate the fate of hundreds of missing residents of Tarhuna, as several mass graves were discovered since the summer.

Local residents told Human Rights Watch that the force associated with Haftar's forces "kidnapped, detained, tortured, and killed, and often absent people who opposed them or suspected them of opposing them."

In mid-June last year, the reconciliation government called on the UN Security Council to refer the file of mass graves to the International Criminal Court.

A team from the International Criminal Court, in coordination with the Government of National Accord, conducted 3 visits to mass graves. The team documented the testimonies of the families of the victims, and met investigators from the Office of the Attorney General, the Military Prosecutor and forensic experts.

As a result, the International Criminal Court requested the Libyan Attorney General’s office to provide it with an indictment against the perpetrators of crimes against international humanitarian law in Libya, especially the mass graves file.