AI: Libya: Prison records at risk of being lost

[pampango]

https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/libya-prison-records-risk-being-lost-2011-08-29

Key prison records and other documentation are at risk of being lost as sites remain unsecure and documents are destroyed or taken away in Libya, Amnesty International warned today.

"Prison records and other physical evidence may be critical for any forthcoming trials for crimes committed under the rule of Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi," said Claudio Cordone, Senior Director at Amnesty International. "In addition, they could help shedding light on the fate of the many prisoners who have ‘disappeared’ in Libyan prisons in the last few decades, including many thousands taken prisoner by pro-al-Gaddafi forces since the beginning of the uprising.”

Amnesty International has called on the National Transitional Council (NTC) authorities to protect such evidence where it is found or collect it in a central repository for safe-keeping.

When Amnesty International visited Abu Salim Prison on 28 August, it found documents scattered on the ground in the courtyard of the prison, and in bags stored inside at least two rooms. Among the documents on the ground were case files of prisoners held for zandaqa (heresy), the "offence" for which many opponents of Colonel al-Gaddafi were convicted; a document ordering the expulsion of a Somali woman who was HIV positive; and a case of a Libyan accused of terrorist attacks in Iraq.