Arbitrary Detention and Torture Widespread in Eastern Libya

Libya's internationally recognized government and its forces have carried out widespread arbitrary detentions and torture in prisons in the east of the country, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday. The New York-based group said in January and April 2015 it gained rare access to detention facilities in al-Bayda and Benghazi controlled by the Libya Army and Justice and Interior ministries, and interviewed 73 detainees individually without guards present. According to Human Rights Watch, "Many detainees said that interrogators had forced them under torture to 'confess' to serious crimes." Detainees described other abuses, including lack of due process, scarce medical care, lack of notification of families about their detention, and poor conditions.