UN envoy to Libya condemns Benghazi massacre of 36 people

The UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, has denounced the massacre of Al-Abyar in Benghazi calling for an investigation that is both immediate and transparent.

On the Facebook page of the UNSMIL, Salame said Sunday that the crime of killing and torturing 36 people in Benghazi is terribly denounced saying the bodies were bearing signs of gunshots in the heads.

He also added that such cases took place more than once in the last two years but no punishment was delivered.

The killing of captives or ordering them killing is a crime by the standards of local and international laws, Salame added.

The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA) has issued a statement condemning the heinous and terrifying crime of extrajudicial executions of 36 people in Abiyar district in east Benghazi.

The Presidential Council offered condolences in the statement to the families and relatives of the killed persons, saying such an atrocious crime is only done by those who are inhuman and far from the teaching of Islam and Libyan society.

The Presidential Council also announced that it has started an investigation in coordination with the Public Prosecution in order to bring the criminals to justice, adding that this heinous crime won’t pass unpunished.

In the meantime, the International Criminal Court’s wanted criminal of Al-Saiqa Force Mahmoud Al-Werfalli and Khalifa Haftar’s son Saddam as well as his brigades are responsible for the mass murder of 36 people whose bodies were found in Abyar district in eastern Benghazi, according to security sources reported by a local TV in Libya.

The 36 bodies that were found in Abyar Benghazi were also the responsibility of Ahmad Al-Fituri and Hamza Sherif as well as Suliman Masloukh, who are all in control of confidential prisons in Benghazi, the sources added.

On Thursday, 36 bodies of young men from Benghazi, who were lately abducted by the self-styled Libyan Army Forces led by Khalifa Haftar, were found in Abyar district – some kilometers away from downtown Benghazi.

The bodies were found with marks of torture and shots in their heads, which shows that they had been viciously and mercilessly murdered at the orders of the controlling militias naming themselves Libyan National Army in Benghazi, according to local media and social media as well as Libyan political and social activists.

The bodies were first reported by sources from the eastern branch of the Interior Ministry of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Abyar district in eastern Benghazi.

The Interior Ministry bureau led by deputy interior minister Faraj Eqayem said it was investigating the heinous crime.