Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Eastern Libyan authorities to investigate the killing of Hanan Al-Barassi, a critic of violations by armed groups in the area.

Al-Barassi was shot dead in Benghazi by unidentified masked gunmen on 10 November, 2020.

The attackers initially attempted to kidnap Al-Barassi from a shop on Street 20 in Benghazi, but ended up shooting and killing her, according to a statement from the Benghazi Security Directorate.

‘The killing of an outspoken lawyer in broad daylight in Benghazi will send chills through activists across the region’, Senior Libya Researcher at HRW, Hanan Salah, said.

‘This brutal killing smacks of a cold-blooded execution. The only way to end this cycle of violence is if authorities hold criminals to account for these terrible acts’.

Al-Barassi, during a Facebook Live appearance on the day she was killed, said she would soon go public with more allegations of abuses and corruption by an armed group but did not give details.

‘Armed groups in Benghazi seem to think they are invincible and immune from accountability’, Salah said.

‘The authorities there need to prove them wrong and ensure that they face justice for their crimes’.

HRW noted that a recently established UN fact-finding mission on Libya has the mandate to investigate serious violations in the country since 2016, urging the mission to put its mandates to good use to support a credible, independent investigation into Al-Barassi’s killing.

Source: HRW

Photo source: HRW