The weekly newsletter from 26th july to 1th of september 2021
This post is also available in:
Arabic
Egypt
Reviewing the prices of photography fees and issuing a new executive regulation for the customs law to determine customs exemptions
The Governor of Cairo, Major General Khaled Abdel Aal, stressed the reconsideration of the regulation issued regarding photography fees on the streets of Cairo, which includes the collection of 15,000 pounds per hour, or 100,000 pounds for filming for the whole day, in return for filming advertisements or cinematic scenes in the governorate’s buildings, streets and garages, and added that It was agreed with other parties to set controls for the financial value according to commercial, advertising or artistic photography, to determine the financial value of each photographic work separately.
The Official Gazette also published in its last issue the text of the executive regulations of the new customs law, which includes more flexible provisions in the application of customs exemptions for Egyptians and returning tourists from abroad, and the draft executive regulations accurately clarify the procedures to be followed by workers and those dealing with customs so as not to leave the door of judgment open to estimates. He explained that cars imported for tourism purposes are completely exempt from customs tax, with the exception of limousines, which are exempted up to 400,000 pounds, and what is more than that is subject to customs tax.
A police officer was imprisoned in the Montazah police station for assaulting a lawyer inside the station
The Egyptian Public Prosecutor ordered the detention of a police officer in the Alexandria Governorate for 4 days pending investigations, on charges of beating a lawyer inside the department’s office, and causing severe head and brain injuries, an incident that caused great resentment. The Egyptian Bar Association submitted a report to the prosecution and demanded an urgent investigation. The events of that incident date back to Wednesday, when the lawyer, Mohamed Danoush, went to a police station in the Montazah area in Alexandria, accompanied by his sister, to write a report that they were harmed by someone. , while the lawyer treated him poorly and threw his lawyer’s card on the ground, and tried to place him, along with his sister, in detention, and when the lawyer objected, the officer slapped and assaulted him, which led to him getting injured, as he had to be detained in intensive care in a hospital.
The Supreme Constitutional Court abolishes the prison sentence for practicing artistic work without a union permit
The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled the unconstitutionality of Article 5 bis of Law No. 35 of 1978 regarding the establishment of syndicates and the Federation of Syndicates of Acting, Film and Musical Professions, as amended by Law No. 8 of 2003, as it stipulated the imprisonment penalty in the field of its application to the text of the second paragraph and the last part of the Paragraph 4 of Article 5 of the same law, and other requests were rejected. The ruling was based on the prohibition of contracting or hiring for non-members working in the union or without temporary work permits, as well as the penalty of a fine which is set out in the text of Article 5 bis of that law, for anyone who contravenes it, is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. As for the penalty of imprisonment for those who practice artistic work without being licensed to do so by the competent syndicate, it contradicts the freedom of artistic creativity, as it is a branch of freedom of expression, and one of its manifestations.
- "Shadi Sorour is the most prominent of them"...The international dialogue announces the release of a number of prisoners
- Lawyer: The number of those who joined the “Hoda and Aisha” case increased to 13 accused
- State Security orders the referral of Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, Muhammad al-Qassas and others to felonies
- The case of foreign funding.. Decision of the investigative judge: There is no right to file a lawsuit against 4 associations
- El Mada
The fate of activists between mediation and persecution
The Public Prosecution released YouTuber Shadi Sorour, journalist and researcher Shaima Sami, and Bread and Freedom Party member Ziad Abu Al-Fadl, who were imprisoned in various cases on charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media.
On the other hand, lawyer Khaled Badawy said that his wife, lawyer Hoda Abdel Moneim, and Aisha Al-Shater, the daughter of the imprisoned Brotherhood leader, Khairat Al-Shater, were referred to the Criminal Court, after three years of pre-trial detention, exceeding the maximum limit of pretrial detention by one year.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution also ordered the referral of Dr. Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, head of the Strong Egypt Party, his deputy, Mohammed Qassas, and others to the Criminal Court. Lawyer Ahmed Aboul Ela Madi said that the referral decision came in connection with Case No. 440 of 2018 State Security Restriction. Aboul Fotouh faces being charged with crimes of joining a group established in violation of the provisions of the law, the purpose of which is to call for the suspension of the provisions of the constitution and laws, to prevent state institutions and public authorities from carrying out their work, and to spread false news about the political and economic situation in the country with the intent of disturbing public peace within the framework of the goals of the terrorist Brotherhood, and to promote the goals of the group which aim to undermine confidence in the Egyptian state as well as its institutions.
Adviser to the investigative judge delegated to investigate the case of civil society organizations, 173 of 2011, announced that there is no reason to file a criminal case against four associations and organizations in the case, due to insufficient evidence, namely, the United Group of Lawyers, Legal and Economic Advisers, Lawyers for Justice and Peace, and the Egyptian Association for the Advancement of with community participation, and the Egyptian Democratic Institute, the judge also ordered the removal of the names of those included in the decision from the lists of those banned from traveling and anticipating arrival, and the lists of preventing them from disposing of their money, and they are: Negad El-Borai, Azza Suleiman, Dr. Magdy Abdel Hamid, Hussam El-Din Ali, and Esraa Abdel The Fattah.
The case includes other human rights defenders, who were not covered by this decision, such as the director of the Cairo Center for Human Rights, Mohamed Zaraa the director of the Nadhra Center for Feminist Studies, Mozn Hassan, the director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Hossam Bahgat, and lawyers: Nasser Amin and Hoda Abdel Wahab, for the Arab Center For the Independence of the Judiciary, Ahmed Ragheb of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, and Gamal Eid, Director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information.
70 children from the village of Talbana in Mansoura between death by drowning and the detention by the Libyan authorities and escaping it after the sinking of an irregular immigration boat
A state of sadness prevailed among the people of the village of Talbana in the Mansoura center in Dakahlia, after announcing the sinking of a boat carrying about 70 villagers in an irregular migration attempt, and the death of 11 young persons and children of the village.
while the fate of the rest was not known, one of the survivors said that the Egyptian survivors of the accident were held in the city of Al-Zawiya in western Libya, and that the authorities were intending to deport them to Tripoli, in which he is currently located, after he, accompanied by another survivor, managed to escape from the Libyan authorities.
There were dozens of residents of the village of Talbana, and according to the survivors, the boat carried about 70 migrants. A video attributed to the Egyptian survivors of drowning, filmed inside the detention centre, in what appears to be an investigation session. The video shows that they told the story of the integrality of their journey all the way from Egypt to boarding the boat and how it sank after its motor broke down after a few hours, as well as the names of the Egyptian and Libyan brokers, and what they were exposed to. Also they told how they were subjected to violence, as well as the sums they paid which vary from 20 thousand Egyptian pounds and 10 thousand Libyan dinars. The people of Mansoura Center in the Dakahlia Governorate, had filed more than 50 reports at the police station, about the disappearance of their kids, with whom communication was cut off, and who were on an unorganized immigration boat that sank off the coast of Zawiya on August 23. The Libyan Coast Guard published, last Monday, a short video, apparently filmed from the rescue boat, of a small boat overturned and surrounded by a number of people at sea, and said that they rescued 51 Egyptians, and retrieved the body of one person, while 18 others are missing.
Doctors file lawsuit to cancel the new fellowship fees
The Physicians Syndicate filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Health and the fellowship’s Secretary General to challenge the decision of the Higher Committee for Medical Specialties to impose exam fees on fellowship trainees. The challenged decision imposes a fellowship fee of 5000 pounds for the second and the third attempt and a fourth exceptional attempt fee of 10.000 pounds after the latter used to be solely 300 pounds.
Dr. Osama Abdelhai, Secretary General of the Syndicate, stated that the Syndicate Council tried a lot, through correspondence and negotiations with ministry officials, to cancel this decision that violates Law No. 14 of 2014 and amended by Law No. 137 of 2014, which stipulates that the union bears all fees for postgraduate studies for doctors. He stated additionally that this decision is an attempt to elude from the commitment to cover the expenses of postgraduate studies for doctors who are already endeavouring a lot of pressure
Recently the fees were cancelled for the August payment, but they must as well be cancelled permanently.
Tunisia
Rights newsletter
The police are again attacking the people.
In a move that is rich in indications, the security forces violently assaulted the participants in the protest called by youth and militant activists this evening, under the title “Let’s reveal the truth about the assassinations.” The security forces occupied the runways of the municipal theater in the capital, the symbolic space for the protests before and after the revolution. Then it proceeded to violently assault, beat and insult many of the participants, including activists, political activists and journalists. Some were arrested and then released after the intervention of lawyers.
The Journalists Syndicate issued right away a statement condemning these attacks, which targeted a number of journalists and protesters, calling for an investigation and for those involved to be held accountable, and called on the President to bear responsibility.
Politically, the condemnation, until this minute, came from the Workers’ Party, which issued a strongly worded statement condemning the executive authority with its various components, up to the President, who was described as “the head of all powers,” considering that what happened in the capital represented a serious test for Kais Saied in his dealings with rights and freedoms, as well as in the file of assassinations and the secret apparatus of the Ennahdha movement, which he considered as files that Said did not address at all in his speeches, and he continued to deal with them with silence despite their urgency and vitality for the present and future of Tunisia.
Souleiman Bouhafs: Tunisia handed over a refugee who enjoys UN immunity
Legally, the issue of handing over the Algerian political activist Souleiman Bouhafs to the Algerian authorities was the most discussed in the Tunisian human rights and political circles, as more than fifty associations and organizations published last Monday a statement confirming that Souleiman Bouhafs came to Tunisia in 2018, where the High Commissioner for Refugees granted him refugee status under number 255-15C0059, valid until September 2022 and stressed that “the international protection obtained by Souleiman Bouhafs imposes on the Tunisian authorities that are signatories to the 1951 Geneva Convention and its 1967 Protocol and the 1984 Convention against Torture, not to return him.”
The undersigned organizations “expressed their indignation at the dangerous precedent set by the Tunisian state of handing over a refugee enjoying international protection to the authorities of his country, which are prosecuting him against his political positions and demanding that they provide clarifications to public opinion,” according to the text of the statement.
In the same context, the Vice-President of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, Bassam Trifi, said today, Tuesday, in his intervention on Shams FM radio, that handing over or kidnapping a refugee is immoral and violates all international commitments, especially since he is protected by the United Nations.
Trifi expressed his dissatisfaction with the absence of the official position of the Tunisian state on this issue, reiterating that it is “immoral to continue to remain silent.”
As for Ramadhan Ben Omar, the official spokesman for the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, he considered, during his intervention on Mosaique Radio, that the forum considers Suleiman Bouhafs, who belongs to the “Tribal Independence Movement” organization known as “MAC”, in a situation of enforced disappearance as long as there is no presence for official information.
He said that the Tunisian state is obligated to protect this person in view of his refugee status by virtue of international agreements, adding that if the Tunisian state is proven to be in violation of his refugee status, there are mechanisms to deprive him of the right to asylum
The file of the Dean Chawki Tabib, and the National Anti-Corruption Commission
Local and international positions of support for Dean Chawki Tabib, the former head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and denouncing the forced closure of the commission’s headquarters continued while Rawdha Abidi the president of the national authority for human trafficking and Fathi Jarray the president of the national authority for torture prevention and chawki Gaddes the president of the national authority for personal data protection and Adnen Laaswed the president of the Access to Information Authority, issued a joint statement in which they stressed the need to ensure respect for human rights and not tolerate their violation under any pretext, and stressed the importance of respecting public and private freedoms and fulfilling all the treaty obligations of the Tunisian state in the field of human rights denouncing the decision to close the two central headquarters of the National Anti-Corruption Authority and deploring the way it was implemented.
In addition to their deep concern and fear of violating the rules for the protection of personal data, especially the data that the National Anti-Corruption Commission processes within the framework of the systems for reporting gains, protecting whistle-blowers, and investigating suspicions of corruption.
In a related context, Dean Tabib published on his Facebook page a message from the General Secretariat of the Arab Lawyers Union, through which it addressed the President of the Tunisian Republic, warning that the lawyer Mr. Tabib, was placed under house arrest, and if it was in correlation with the Tunisian law, it is still inconsistent with the rules of humanitarian and international law.
This was confirmed by the International Observatory of Lawyers in a statement published by Business News, in which it strongly condemns the placement of Chawki Tabib under house arrest, justifying this by his explicit opposition to Principle 16 of the 1990 Law
This is in addition to the fact that Dean Chawki Tabib had published in a post on his Facebook page on August 26, in which he indicated that he had filed through his defence team in the Administrative Court a petition for the cancellation of the unjust decision to place me under house arrest, as well as a request to stop its implementation for the First President of the Administrative Court.
The group “Lawyers to protect rights and freedoms” sees the light
Today, September 1, 2021, the establishment of the “Lawyers for the Protection of Rights and Freedoms” group was announced, which aims to monitor and legally follow up on violations of freedoms and rights.
According to a member Lawyer Islem Hamza a lot of violation were reported after the 25th of July like the Military prosecutions.
The Presidency of the Republic continues the policy of blackout, and professional and human rights voices protest
On August 30, 2021, the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists issued a statement in which it noted that the Presidency of the Republic continues the policy of blackout, ignoring the citizen’s right to timely correct information, closing its doors to journalists and leaving the field open to the spread of false news and ambiguity in this delicate exceptional circumstance and in the absence of other official sources of information.
The union also recorded “many violations of the freedom of the press and the media through restrictions on the work of journalists, especially in the field, or through the intervention of some officials in charge of management in some public media institutions to direct journalists to serve one opinion and interfere in the selection of topics and the way they are presented, which is a dangerous indicator that brings us back to directed media and a setback for the only gain of the revolution of freedom and dignity, which is freedom of expression,” according to the text of the statement
The union calls for guaranteeing freedoms and rights while warning against deviation
The Assistant Secretary-General in charge of information in the Tunisian General Labour Union, Sami Tahri, stressed, through a post he posted on his Facebook page, today, Monday, August 30, 2021, the need for “clarity and the development of a road map, a government, more rights and freedoms and guarantees of respect for the constitution or barbarism, and every delay or deviation is an opportunity for the mafia.” “.
The refugee accommodation center in Tataouine reaches its maximum capacity
The regional authorities in Tataouine housed 28 Syrian refugees in private homes that were rented for the purpose, after the refugee accommodation center in the city reached its maximum capacity, knowing that the army units, during combing operations along the Tunisian-Libyan border strip, stopped 77 Syrians while they were trying to enter Tunisian soil, and they were handed over to the security authorities to complete the procedures with them. It is noteworthy that the people of Tataouine had asked the central authorities to provide monitoring and follow-up to the refugees while ensuring residence and a decent living, especially since their number is increasing daily with the acceleration of the procedures for transferring them to their countries.
Political newsletter
On the political level, the positions of political parties and personalities continued to shift more towards caution against the exceptional measures of the President of the State, Kais Saied, especially after the unlimited extension of the freezing of Parliament and the head of the Public Prosecution and the implementation of measures to prevent travel on the basis of capacity and house arrest.
The Political Bureau of the Democratic Current, which was held on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 August to consider the passage of a month since the implementation of the exceptional measures announced by the President of the Republic, expressed its growing concern about the gathering of powers in the hands of the President of the Republic without a clear time horizon and the accompanying arbitrary measures that affect rights and freedoms and fuel division within the Tunisian body , from political ambiguity, irresponsible calls to suspend the constitution, and an unjustified delay in appointing the government and filling the vacancy in several ministries.
The movement called on the President of the Republic to provide serious guarantees to protect rights and freedoms by announcing all the exceptional measures taken or to be taken, while specifying their time limits, ensuring their respect for the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution and the law, and distancing them from the logic of generalization and collective punishment.
As for the popular movement, which is one of the components of President Said’s political belt, on August 30, it issued a statement following a meeting of its central committee, in which it continued its support for the president’s exceptional measures, considering that the decisions of the President of the Republic came in response to the will of the people and to save state institutions to be a bridge to return to the right track of the December 17-January 14 revolution and building a national state on the basis of independence of national decision, popular democracy and social justice.
As for the Ennahdha movement, this week, it kept a cautious silence regarding the presidential procedures of Kais Saied, after it expressed, last week, its mere “concern” about the extension in the measures, which it considered unconstitutional, according to the text of the statement.
While this week, publications excerpted from an intervention by Mohamed koumani, a member of the movement’s executive bureau, were issued, on Shems FM radio, in which he indicated that the movement “with the resumption of the natural democratic path, and we were and still are supporting the respect of the President of the Republic and we are innocent of all accusations of threats and we consider harming it (referring to the democratic path) a red line.” And it demands that the door to dialogue be opened in Carthage and that the President of the Republic listens to the Tunisian parties, organizations and civil society, because the country’s problems are numerous and great and cannot wait. It is unreasonable for the country to continue without a government in light of the financial risks that threaten Tunisia.”
In a separate context, the Al-Massar and Workers’ (POCT) parties issued two statements denouncing the Tunisian authorities’ extradition of the Algerian refugee, describing the process as dangerous and condemned politically, morally and legally.
political arrests
As for the arrests of the frozen parliamentarians, the Amal and aamal Movement announced in a communiqué published on August 30 that the arrested MP, Yassine Ayari, is being newly pursued by the military court regarding his posts rejecting the coup, and that an attempt was made to interrogate him inside prison without the presence of his lawyer, which Ayari rejected.
The movement also denounced this dangerous step, the first of its kind since July 25, in which a Tunisian civilian was militarily tracked down for expressing his opinion and rejecting the violation of the constitution. We warn against employing the military judiciary, whose director was recently appointed by the President of the Republic, to liquidate political opponents.
As for the frozen deputy of the Gafsa district, Lotfi Ali, an arrest warrant was issued against him last Tuesday by the first investigating judge at the Judicial Pole, pending the investigation of a case related to suspicions of corruption in phosphate transfer contracts.
It is worth noting that Lotfi Ali was arrested more than a week ago in the ‘lafayette’ region in the centre of the capital based on two search warrants and one judicial arrest warrant against him.
Libya
Algeria sponsors the work of the ministerial meeting of the neighbouring countries of Libya
Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad Ramtane Laamamra concluded, at the International Conference Center in Algiers, the work of the ministerial meeting of the Libyan neighbouring countries, which was held over two days to discuss ways to resolve the Libyan crisis, and participated in the high-level ministerial meeting along with the ministers of Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Niger, Chad and Congo. Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Libya, Jan Kubis, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Bankole Adeoye, and the participants in this meeting stressed the importance of expediting the development of a legal framework, in preparation for the elections of the 24th of December, the expulsion of mercenaries and foreign forces from the country, as well as the unification of the military institution as priorities for resolving the Libyan crisis. The participant stressed also on the importance of the neighbouring countries in supporting the efforts leading to stabilizing and promoting peace and security in Libya in the sense that serves all the people of the region.
In the same context, the United States welcomed the results of the ministerial meeting of Libya’s neighbouring countries, as an important step in supporting regional stability, and renewed its call for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and fighters from Libya, and the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections, as scheduled for next December 24, according to the tweet of the American embassy to Libya on its page in the social networking site.
In the final statement, the ministers agreed to activate the two sub-committees on politics and security that will be chaired by Algeria and Egypt. They also called on the 5 + 5 joint military committee to coordinate with neighbouring countries to establish a practical mechanism on the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign forces, denouncing the continued flow of weapons and mercenaries to the armed groups.
The House of Representatives resumes its sessions in order to prepare for the elections
In the Libyan interior, the House of Representatives resumed its official session, at the headquarters of the House of Representatives in the city of Tobruk, headed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aqila Saleh, and in the presence of the First Deputy Speaker, Fawzi Al-Nuwairi. According to the official spokesman for the House of Representatives, Mr. The electoral process throughout the country and the distribution of seats there to start the draft law for the upcoming House of Representatives election. It was also agreed to prepare the items for questioning the government in detail to be referred to the government to prepare its responses and prepare for the interrogation session. A vote was also taken to approve the ratification of the Paris climate agreement and the protection of the environment for life on Earth as well as circulating a number of draft laws completed by the Legislative Committee to vote on them (the Law for the Protection of the Man-made River Project, the Internal Security Agency Law, and the Cybercrime Combating) it will be decided upon and voted-on during the upcoming sessions.
The approach of the first team of ceasefire monitors to reach Libya amid positive steps towards unifying the military institution and the ambiguity revolving around the role of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar during the next stage
Militarily, the UN envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, announced, during the Libya Neighbourhood Conference in Algeria, that the first team of ceasefire monitors will be deployed in Libya soon. Kubis added that work is underway to deploy the first team of ceasefire monitors, considering that the continued presence of mercenaries and foreign forces in Libya is a cause for concern both in Libya and neighbouring countries. Regarding the elections scheduled for December 24, Kubis said that all Libyan parties affirm their adherence to the election date, but we alegal framework is needed and also a constitutional basis for it. Additionally, that these elections will be held on schedule.
In the same context, the Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Army, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, met, on Saturday, with the UN envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, to discuss the latest developments in the Libyan arena near Benghazi. The United Nations envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, and his accompanying delegation also met with members of the 5 + 5 Military Committee of the Libyan Army Command. The leadership indicated that the meetings came to discuss the latest conditions and developments on the Libyan arena, and did not announce, on its part, any details regarding the meeting so far. The efforts of the General Command of the Libyan Army continue to implement the ceasefire agreement and efforts to unify the military institution. Earlier, the Libyan Army forces stationed in the city of Shweref – southwest of the capital, Tripoli, received a delegation from the western region to cooperate in securing the Man-made River Road which is the link between Al-Shwerif and Al-Sadadah.
The Libyan army forces agreed with the supporting security force from the city of Misrata to secure the road and conduct joint patrols in a historic step that came after several years of estrangement. This may pave the way for the unification of the security and military institutions in Libya. The city of Al-Shweref is a contact area between the forces of the Libyan army in the south and the forces of the western region in the north, and the two sides are working to secure it with joint patrols, especially as it witnesses from time to time an exchange of detainees.
Major General Maraj al-Amami, head of the 5 + 5 Committee, announced the General Command of the Libyan Army, the start of the practical implementation of the security arrangements plan for a new phase. The Joint 5 + 5 Committee called on the Presidential Council and the government to freeze any agreements and memoranda of understanding with any country, declaring that it had agreed on specific measures and an urgent plan to expel all mercenaries and foreign elements without exception to anyone as soon as possible.
Solving the prison crisis and releasing the detainees, interfering with the priorities of the Presidential Council, protests in the southern region against militias and their prisons, and the deterioration of the condition of Abdullah Snoussi, the former intelligence director of the Gaddafi regime
The Libyan Presidential Council stressed upon the necessity of solving the prison crisis and releasing the persons who are still behind bars. Emphasizing the need to expedite the solution to the problem of prisoners’ cases, who have been found innocent and have not yet been released. The head of the Presidential Council stressed the importance of placing human rights at the top of the priorities when dealing with all cases and prisoners, emphasizing the values of justice and human rights principles in building a new Libya. Libya, especially in the west of the country, has extrajudicial prisons for militias, as well as detention centers for irregular migrants in the middle of cities, and the arrest and release processes do not depend on legal controls, according to Libyan officials and human rights defenders.
The National Human Rights Committee in Libya had called on the Minister of Justice of the Government of National Unity, Halima Ibrahim, to the necessity of revealing the prisons outside the law, and called on the head of the Government of National Unity and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya to intervene quickly in order to allow Snoussi to be given his medicine, and to allow him periodic medical visits urgently, and stressed that preventing and depriving prisoners and detainees of their rights, primarily receiving treatment, health care, medical visits and conducting examinations, constitutes a grave violation to the rule of law and justice and to the stipulations of Articles 42, 43, 44, 46, of Chapter VII relative to medical care for inmates of the Law No. 5 of 2005.
Sheiks and social parties from the southern region of Libya have organized a protest in front of the Sabha court headquarters to support detainees and prisoners in militia prisons, and condemned the ill-treatment of political prisoners, led by Abdullah Snoussi, the former Libyan intelligence director, who suffers from cancer. The people of the southern region threatened a major escalation against the militia leaders in the event that Senussi, who was included in the general amnesty law issued by the Libyan Parliament in 2017, was not released due to his deteriorating health condition.
Al-Senussi’s family confirmed that they lost contact with their father about 8 months ago, and were unable to communicate with him due to the comprehensive siege imposed by the militias on him inside his prison at the Maitika Air Base in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Helping a fishing vessel carrying 539 irregular migrants towards Europe, the housing complex on the Italian island of Lampedusa has lost its ability to accommodate more migrants
Italian military ships helped a collapsing fishing boat packed with 539 migrants approaching the coast of the small island of Lampedusa in southern Italy. Months in Libya waiting for smugglers’ boats hoping to reach Europe, at least 20 migrants who underwent medical examinations bore signs of torture (burns and gunshot wounds) and were extremely exhausted, some of them dehydrated, many migrants from northern or west Africa, some of them are from Bangladesh. Moreover, two small boats with about 15 migrants on board arrived in the waters of Lampedusa from Tunisia earlier, and a third boat with about 20 people on board was seen approaching Lampedusa. While migrants are completing the initial papers for asylum applications, they are living in a complex which capacity is about 250 people, but the arrivals on Saturday increased the number of residents to about 1,200, and many migrants are waiting to be transferred by boat to Sicily or to the Italian mainland.
Epidemiological situation
The health authorities in Libya announced the registration of 1501 new cases of corona, the recovery of 964 people, and the registration of 34 deaths within 24 hours. While the western region in which the city is located witnessed 20 deaths. he indicated that the total number of people infected with Coronavirus in Libya rose to 308,972 people, including 83,754 active cases, and 4,247 people died.
Last update : 09/02/2021 - 15:00
This post is also available in:
Arabic