UN says dozens of bodies found in part of Libyan capital run by armed militia
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he was shocked by revelations that gross rights violations were uncovered at detention facilities in Tripoli run by the Stabilisation Support Authority, or SSA, an armed group whose commander, Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, was killed in militia fighting in mid-May.
Advertisement
The rights office said it later received information on the excavation of 10 charred bodies at the SSA headquarters in the Abu Salim neighbourhood and another 67 bodies discovered in refrigerators in the Abu Salim and Al Khadra hospitals.
It also cited reports of a burial site at the Tripoli Zoo that was run by the SSA.
The office said the identities of the bodies were not immediately clear.
'Our worst-held fears are being confirmed: dozens of bodies have been discovered at these sites, along with the discovery of suspected instruments of torture and abuse, and potential evidence of extrajudicial killings,' Mr Turk said in a statement.
Advertisement
Mr Turk called on authorities to seal the area to preserve evidence and said there needed to be accountability for the killings.
He said the UN should be granted access to the sites to document rights violations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Sudan army torturing people to death, says rights group
A prominent Sudanese human rights group has accused the country's army and security forces of torturing people to death and operating "execution chambers".The Emergency Lawyers group said it had documented hundreds of arrests in the capital Khartoum. It said that in the "worst cases", some captives had later been found dead with evidence of Sudanese army recaptured the city from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in March, against which it is fighting a bitter civil war that has killed tens of thousands in two army did not respond to the BBC's request for comment on Sunday. Throughout the war, the Emergency Lawyers group has documented atrocities by both the army and the RSF. Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening'Tortured and terrified' - BBC witnesses the battle for KhartoumIn a statement on social media platform X, Emergency Lawyers said it had observed a "dangerous escalation in violations".Some detainees were arrested at random and taken to large detention centres, the group alleged."Their fates range from continued detention in inhumane conditions, trials conducted by security agencies that lack the most basic standards of justice, or release in poor health," the statement said."In the worst cases, some are found dead after being killed or declared dead as a result of torture."The use of torture was common during the oppressive rule of president Omar al-Bashir. Throughout the current war, the RSF have also been found to have abused and executed UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said in March that both sides were responsible for "a widespread pattern of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees". It said both both the RSF and the army had used "rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and ill-treatment".The fighting has sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises - 12 million people have been forced from their homes and famine has been declared in parts of the week, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the war has fuelled the worst cholera outbreak the country has seen in have been nearly 100,000 cases of the disease and 2,470 deaths over the past year. More BBC stories on the war in Sudan: 'Our children are dying': Rare footage shows plight of civilians in besieged Sudan cityOil-rich Sudanese region becomes new focus of war between army and rival forcesThe two generals at the heart of the conflict Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Scores of Palestinians killed and thousands flee after Israel launches fresh airstrikes and announces plans to capture Gaza's largest city
Scores of Palestinians have been killed and thousands forced to flee following nearly a week of relentless Israeli bombardment. The Hamas-run municipality of Gaza City's southern Zeitoun district described the situation as 'catastrophic', with residents enduring almost constant explosions from Israeli air strikes, tank shelling and demolition operations. Zeitoun, once home to around 50,000 people, has been left without food, water, or functioning infrastructure, following six days of strikes. At least 40 Palestinians were killed on Saturday alone, Gaza's civil defence agency confirmed, as Israel pushed forward with its controversial plan to drive more than a million people from the city into sprawling tent camps in the south. The UN Security Council has already condemned Israel's vote last week to seize the city, describing the mass displacement of its residents as unlawful. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to want Gaza City under complete Israeli control from October 7 – the anniversary of Hamas 's bloody incursion that killed 1,200 people and left 251 hostage. In an extraordinary admission, the Israeli military announced it would begin allowing aid agencies to bring in tents again - despite accusations from the UN that Tel Aviv has deliberately choked humanitarian access. 'As part of the preparations to move the population from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their protection, the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza will resume,' the Israeli military body COGAT said. The military said it had no comment on when the mass movement of Palestinians would begin, but Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media that 'we are now in the stage of discussions to finalise the plan to defeat Hamas in Gaza.' It comes after a coalition of more than 100 organisations last week revealed that not a single aid truck has entered Gaza since March 2. Israel continues to insist that there is 'no starvation' in Gaza, instead accusing UN agencies of failing to distribute aid. But the UN's own figures paint a starkly different picture - at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed since May while seeking food, most shot dead by Israeli troops near distribution sites. Ghassan Kashko, 40, who is sheltering with his family at a school building in the neighbourhood, told news agency AFP that air strikes and tank shelling were causing 'explosions... that don't stop'. 'We don't know the taste of sleep,' he said. The humanitarian picture is worsening by the day. Gaza's four remaining hospitals are operating at less than 20 per cent of capacity, starved of medicine and supplies. The UN estimates that 1.9million Gazans – 90 per cent of the population – have now been displaced, while aid groups warn that famine is no longer a looming threat but an unfolding reality. On Saturday, hospitals reported another 11 deaths from malnutrition, including a child, bringing the grim toll to 251 starvation deaths - 108 of them children. An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a baby girl and her parents on Saturday, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the girl were killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area. 'Two and a half months, what has she done?' neighbour Fathi Shubeir asked, as temperatures in the shattered territory soared above 32C. 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.' Israel's military said it couldn't comment on the strike without more details. It said it is dismantling Hamas' military capabilities and takes precautions not to harm civilians. In a tragedy that shocked Italy, 20-year-old Marah Abu Zuhri, who had been airlifted to Pisa for emergency treatment after being evacuated from Gaza, died less than 48 hours after arrival. Doctors said she was skeletal, suffering a fatal cardiac arrest brought on by extreme muscle and weight loss. Elsewhere, an official at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the Zikim area of northern Gaza, as well as four people killed in shelling. The war, now stretching towards its second year, has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry, which the UN says are broadly reliable. For the people of Zeitoun, the immediate concern is survival. With 80 per cent of Gaza City's infrastructure already destroyed, and bombardments showing no sign of stopping, thousands more are expected to join the exodus south - into camps that international observers warn are already on the brink of collapse. The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water as diseases spread, while some Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the mass relocation of people from Gaza. Meanwhile in Israel, families of hostages joined calls for a one-day general strike on Sunday, accusing Netanyahu of recklessly endangering their loved ones with his push to occupy Gaza City in full. Anxious families gathered for a 'nationwide day of stoppage' to express their growing frustrations over 22 months of war. Families and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attacks, hold placards and national flags during a protest calling for government action to secure their release in Jerusalem on August 17, 2025 Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to still be alive. They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages speaking under duress and pleading for help and food. The families and supporters have pressed the government for a deal to stop the war - a call that some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have made as well in recent weeks. A group representing the families urged Israelis into the streets on Sunday. 'Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home,' it said in a statement. 'I want to believe that there is hope, and it will not come from above, it will come only from us,' said Dana Silberman Sitton, sister of Shiri Bibas and aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were killed in captivity. The US State Department on Saturday said all visitor visas for people from Gaza are being stopped while a review is carried out of how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days.
Glasgow Times
15 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Baby girl killed with her parents in Gaza airstrike
The baby's body, wrapped in blue, was placed on those of her parents as Palestinians prayed over them. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the child were believed to have been killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area. 'Two and a half months, what has she done?' neighbour Fathi Shubeir said. 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.' Israel's military said it is dismantling Hamas's military capabilities and takes precautions not to harm civilians. It said it could not comment on the strike without more details. A Palestinian man carries the body of his seven-year-old nephew who, according to the family, was killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Friday night (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) Muwasi is one of the heavily populated areas in Gaza where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel plans to widen its coming military offensive. The mobilisation of forces is expected to take weeks, and Israel may be using the threat to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages taken in its October 7 2023 attack that sparked the war. Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to be alive. They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages, speaking under duress, pleading for help and food. A group representing the families has urged Israelis onto the streets on Sunday. 'Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home,' it said in a statement. Palestinian and Israeli activists took part in a protest against the killing of journalists in Gaza as they gathered in the West Bank town of Beit Jala on Friday (Mahmoud Illean/AP) The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water as diseases spread, while some Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the mass relocation of people from Gaza. Another 11 malnutrition-related deaths occurred in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said on Saturday, with one child among them. That brings malnutrition-related deaths during the war to 251. The UN and partners say getting aid into the territory of more than two million people, and then on to distribution points, remains highly challenging with Israeli restrictions and pressure from crowds of hungry Palestinians. The UN human rights office says at least 1,760 people were killed while seeking aid between May 27 and Wednesday. It says 766 were killed along routes of supply convoys and 994 in the vicinity of 'non-UN militarised sites', a reference to the Israeli-backed and US-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which since May has been the primary distributor of aid in Gaza. Elsewhere, a 20-year-old Palestinian woman described as being in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' has died after being transferred to Italy for treatment, a hospital said on Saturday. The patient was admitted to Pisa University Hospital late on Wednesday and died on Friday. She was removed from Gaza as part of a humanitarian mission and arrived with a 'with a very complex, compromised clinical picture', according to the hospital. She died after entering a respiratory crisis and subsequently going into cardiac arrest, the hospital said in a statement. Hospital staff had performed tests and started supportive therapy before she died, the statement said. The woman, named by Italian media as Marah Abu Zuhri, had arrived in Italy with her mother. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said almost 120 Gazans – 31 patients and their families – had been flown to Rome, Milan and Pisa on three planes. In a post on X, Mr Tajani said it was the 14th medical evacuation of Palestinians that Italy had conducted since January 2024, and the largest. The hospital did not specify whether the woman had suffered from malnutrition, but said that she had arrived in a 'state of severe physical deterioration.' The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.
