The UN human rights chief announced that his office is investigating reports of a mass grave in the desert along the Libya-Tunisia border.
This follows the discovery of at least 65 migrant bodies at another site earlier this year.
In his speech, Volker Turk condemned widespread violations against migrants and refugees in Libya, a dangerous transit route through the Sahara Desert and the southern Mediterranean.
Turk highlighted that abuses against migrants are being “perpetrated at scale, with impunity” by both state and non-state actors. These abuses include human trafficking, torture, forced labor, extortion, starvation, detention, and mass expulsions.
“I urge the authorities to respond swiftly to our inquiries and investigate these crimes fully,” Turk said to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, addressing Libya’s human rights record over the past year. The international community continues to call for swift action to address and prevent further human rights violations in the region.
