UK sanctions Libyan militia for rights violations

LONDON: Britain on Thursday announced sanctions on the Kaniyat militia, which is allegedly behind a spate of gruesome murders, kidnapping and torture of civilians in Libya.

London placed restrictions on the group and its leaders Mohamed Al Kani and Abdurahem Al Kani for what it said was a “reign of terror” in the town of Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli.

Middle East and North Africa minister James Cleverly said the militia was responsible for enforced disappearances, torture and the killing of civilians.

“These new sanctions send a clear message that those responsible for serious human rights violations or breaches of international humanitarian law in Libya will face consequences,” he said in a statement.

The US Treasury announced similar sanctions against the Kaniyat militia in November last year.

In June 2020, Libyan government forces discovered 11 mass graves around Tarhuna.

Locals in the town in April this year said the militia, commanded by six brothers, systematically not only executed their opponents but slaughtered their entire families.

“They spared no child, no woman, no old man,” said one man, calling them a “criminal gang,” who paraded through the town, instilling fear with a pair of leashed, roaring lions.

Meanwhile, 78 prisoners were released late Wednesday, according to a correspondent at the scene.

The detained fighters were released at the end of a reconciliation ceremony organised in Jedaida prison in Tripoli that was atended by the minister of justice.

They were then reunited with their waiting families. The release comes on the eve of the Eid Al Fitr holiday.

The Kaniyat or Al Kani militia are among an array of armed groups who filled a power vacuum in Libya ater the exit and death of veteran ruler Muammar Qadhafi in 2011. Some of the bodies found in Tarhuna were blindfolded with their wrists tied.