Interactive Dialogue with the Fact-Finding Mission in Libya
Delegation of the United States of America
Statement by Ambassador Michèle Taylor
Human Rights Council 52nd Session
Thank you, Mr. Vice President, and thank you to the members of the Fact-Finding Mission for your reporting on the human rights situation in Libya.
The United States supports the FFM and encourages the Libyan government to engage with OHCHR and adopt the recommendations provided by the FFM. We appreciate the FFM’s recommendations, particularly on transitional justice and strengthening the judiciary. We call on the Libyan government to continue to strengthen the independence of its National Human Rights Institutions as highlighted in its 2020 UPR review. OHCHR can help provide that expert assistance.
We also welcome the Libyan government’s commitment to engage with OHCHR to enhance protection of civic space, including the work of human rights defenders, and the rights to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
We share the FFM’s concern about ongoing reports of intensified crackdown on civil society, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, gender-based violence, and arbitrary arrest and detention throughout the country.
Attacks on women politicians, civil society, and human rights defenders hamper their ability to participate politically and undermine prospects for long-term peace.
We applaud the Libyan government’s cooperative efforts last summer to extend the FFM’s mandate for an additional nine months, ensuring the thorough completion of the FFM’s essential work. Now it’s time to come together to support Libyan efforts to address OHCHR and FFM recommendations.
What are the best practices to support a Libyan-led effort to promote transitional justice?
I thank you.
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