A powerful government-backed militia in Libya has threatened to sue Amnesty International over a report accusing it of killings, torture and forced labour.
Amnesty accused the Stability Support Authority of a string of abuses in a report released on Wednesday. These included "unlawful killings, arbitrary detentions, interception and subsequent arbitrary detention of migrants and refugees, torture, forced labour, and other shocking human rights violations".
The SSA said on Thursday it "upholds Libyan law" and holds its members accountable for "any illegal act".
The group also said it "reserves the right to sue Amnesty International for defamation and slander against the Libyan state and its official institutions".
Amnesty said the violations were committed against Libyans as well as migrants and refugees who travelled to Libya in hopes of making a boat crossing to Europe.
The SSA, created under a decree by former prime minister Fayez Al Sarraj in January last year, is led by Abdel Ghani Al Kikli, one of the most powerful men in the North African country's capital Tripoli.
Amnesty said Mr Al Kikli, known as "Gheniwa", had been appointed despite a "well-documented history of crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations committed by militias under his command".
Libya plunged into violent lawlessness in 2011 after a popular uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
Armed groups have fought for territory while seeking influence and a share of the country's oil wealth through affiliations with rival political groups.
Many such groups have been integrated into the state despite accusations of abuse by human rights organisations.
In March, United Nations investigators said serious rights violations, including possible crimes against humanity, were continuing with impunity across much of Libya.
A UN-led peace process failed to deliver promised elections in December amid disputes over the process.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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The seven points are:
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Employees: 80-100
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