UN Fact-finding Mission led by Morocco’s Aujjar completes first visit to Libya, its report expected in October

The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya, chaired by Morocco’s Mohamed Aujjar, has completed a four-day visit to Tripoli during which it held high-level talks with Libyan governmental and judicial authorities on the human rights situation in the country, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Friday in Geneva.

The mission, which also presented to the Libyan authorities updated information on its work, will submit its report to the UN Human Rights Council in October, said the Office in a statement.

In a UN press release, Aujjar explained that “the main goal of our visit was to strengthen our cooperation with the Libyan authorities in the fulfillment of our mandate” to assist in the local efforts to transition away from a decade of conflict and violence.

Morocco’s former Justice Minister commended Libyan authorities for their efforts to expand current collaboration.

For the UN, ”accountability for past and ongoing human rights violations, and addressing prevailing impunity, must be part of the process of achieving peace and stability,” the press release said.

The Fact-Finding Mission, established by the Human Rights Council in June 2020, was tasked with investigating allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in Libya since 2016. Due to the liquidity crisis related to the UN regular budget, the mission’s Secretariat did not become fully operational until June 2021.

In addition to the head of the fact-finding mission Aujjar, who previously served as Morocco’s Minister of Justice between 2017 and 2019, the mission included Chaloka Beyani and Tracy Robinson.