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Amnesty Accuses Libyan Militia Groups Of Committing Abuses

February 16, 2012

A year after the start of the uprising in Libya, the human rights watchdog Amnesty International says some of the militia groups who helped topple Muammar Qaddafi are now responsible for some of the country's worst rights abuses.

In a new report based on a recent tour of Libyan detention centers, Amnesty says armed militias are jailing and torturing suspected Qaddafi loyalists and have driven entire communities of African migrants and other minority groups from their homes.

The report quotes detainees as saying they had been tortured with whips, chains, and electric shocks.

At least 12 detainees are believed to have died since September as a result of torture.

Amnesty researchers say Libya's new government, the National Transitional Council, has done nothing to rein in the activity of the militia groups.

With agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/amnesty_libya_rights_abuses/24486024.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.