UN Human Rights Chief Urges Authorities to Investigate Mass Grave Discovery Reports on Libya-Tunisian Borders

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk. (Twitter/@volker_turk)

JAKARTA - The UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday his office was following up on reports of mass graves in the desert along the Libya-Tunisia border, after the remains of at least 65 migrants were found at another location earlier this year.

In his speech, Turk condemned widespread abuses against migrants and refugees in Libya, who traverse a dangerous transit route that stretches through the Sahara Desert and across the southern Mediterranean.

Violations against migrants are "committed on a massive scale, with impunity" by state and non-state actors, Turk said, citing crimes including human trafficking, torture, forced labor, extortion, starvation, detention, and mass displacement.

"I urge the authorities to respond promptly to our investigation, and to fully investigate these crimes," he told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, in a speech discussing Libya's human rights record over the past year, reported by Reuters, July 9.

However, Turk did not provide further details on the alleged identities of the victims of the mass graves or how the site was discovered.

Meanwhile, a spokesman at Turk's office said: "We have not received any information from the authorities but we are following up."

In March, at least 65 migrant bodies were found in a mass grave site in the al-Jahriya valley in southwestern Libya, about 420 km (260 miles) south of Tripoli, the UN-affiliated International Organization for Migration said.

Libya and Tunisia are key partners in the European Union's efforts to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean from North Africa to southern Europe.