CEDAW/C/78/D/130/2018
2.11 With regard to the requirement for the exhaustion of domestic remedies, the
author explains that, following her return to Tripoli, she was unable to file a complaint
because she feared persecution. 1 In 2013, REDRESS submitted a complaint on her
behalf to the Libyan Prosecutor General, claiming that she had suffered
discrimination on the basis of her sex. Receipt was confirmed, but she found out only
through contacts that her complaint had been forwarded to the Attorney General in
Benghazi. Despite follow-up attempts, she has received no other response and it does
not appear that the Prosecutor General’s office has begun an investigation. The author
argues that the Prosecutor General’s failure to investigate has coincided with the
breakdown of the rule of law in Libya, resulting in the absence of a functioning justice
system. 2 The author concludes that domestic remedies have been unreasonably
prolonged, are unavailable and are unlikely to bring effective relief.
Complaint
3.1 The author claims that, because of the involvement of the Ministry of the
Interior and because the conduct of the Martyrs of 17 February Brigade and the
Supreme Security Committee are attributable to the State party, the State party is
responsible for the treatment to which she was subjected. In this regard, she argues
that both the Brigade and the Supreme Security Committee act as an extension and at
the behest of the State party and perform its functions. 3 The Brigade claims to work
with the Ministry, while the Supreme Security Committee serves as an auxiliary
police and intelligence service and is nominally paid for and under the authority of
the Ministry. 4 In the author’s case, this is corroborated by the statement of the
Supreme Security Committee investigator, S., that he had discussed her case with the
Deputy Interior Minister and by her meeting with the Deputy Minister. He stated
publicly that she had been arrested by “a legitimate force affiliated to the Interior
Ministry”. 5
3.2 The author submits that the State party has violated her rights under article 1 of
the Convention as it discriminated against her on the basis of her sex and as a defender
of the human rights of women. She argues that the Supreme Security Committee
subjected her to severe pain and suffering while she was in detention from 11 to
12 August 2012, including exposure to gendered and sexual verbal abuse, kicking,
blows with a gun and a death threat, which violated her right not to be tortured and
resulted in her being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Given her arrest
during a women’s rights workshop and the questioning on Hakki immediately
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The author refers to a letter by Amnesty International dated 18 October 2012 in support of her
asylum application, in which it states that she would risk persecution upon return to Libya.
The author refers to: Amnesty International, Libya: Rule of Law or Rule of Militias (London,
July 2012), p. 9; and Human Rights Watch, “Libya: universal periodic review submission
September 2014”.
The author refers to a letter by Amnesty International dated 18 October 2012 in support of her
asylum application and to: Max Fisher, “Libyan militia’s failed security at Benghazi”,
Washington Post, 2 November 2012; Francesco Finucci, “Libya: military actors and militias”,
Global Security, p. 10.
Letter from Amnesty International dated 18 October 2012; Frederic Wehrey and Peter Cole,
“Building Libya’s security sector”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 6 August 2013; and
Hanan Salah, “Militias and the quest for Libyan unity”, Human Rights Watch, 27 October 2015.
The author refers to a press article entitled “The Deputy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: Haqy
Assembly has deviated from its objectives in Libya” (date unclear), in which it is mentioned, inter
alia, that the Deputy Interior Minister stated that “a legitimate force affiliated to the Ministry of
Internal Affairs arrested her and she was not abducted as most of the media reported, pointing out
that the Assembly entered the country with a permit to carry out mine clearance then it dev iated
from its course and started chanting for women’s freedom, referring that they are calling to
delinquency and deviation from morals, confirming that she managed to fulfil her wishes by the
presence of women who followed her unaware of the true objectives of this Assembly”.
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