UN adds sexual violence as reason for sanctions in Libya

The U.N. Security Council on Monday authorized action against illicit oil exports from Libya until February 2020, and it added planning and committing sexual and genderbased violence as reasons for sanctions over objections from Russia and China.

The vote in the U.N.’s most powerful body on a resolution that also renewed asset freezes and travel bans on Libyan political spoilers was 13-0, with Russia and China abstaining.

“This sends a powerful signal that the international community will not tolerate such crimes,” senior British diplomat Stephen Hickey, whose country drafted the resolution, said of the addition of sexual and genderbased violence.

Libya plunged into chaos after the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and is now governed by rival administrations in the east and west. It has also become a haven for armed groups, including several from neighbouring countries, which survive on looting and human trafficking.

The Netherlands and Sweden pushed for including “planning, directing or committing acts involving sexual and gender-based violence” as criteria for sanctions, citing the increasingly worrying problem in Libya especially against migrants trying to reach Europe.

Dutch Ambassador Karel Van Oostrom told the council after the vote that such violence “is directly connected to the issues of peace and security we are discussing today.”