LOC09:57
06:57 GMT
UNITED NATIONS, June 21 (KUNA) -- The Security Council late Thursday urged
the international community to continue to support the Libyan Government's
efforts to increase the effectiveness and capacity of its security and justice
sector institutions in order to complete a successful transition to democracy
and to develop its economy.
"The Members of the Security Council welcomed the progress made by the
Libyan Government under the stewardship of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and
encouraged it to continue this progress, delivering concrete results," Council
President Mark Lyall Grant of the UK said in a press statement.
The statement came two days after Tarek Mitri, the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General and Head of United Nations Support Mission in Libya
(UNSMIL), briefed the Council on the situation in Libya.
Mitri had told the Council that despite the political, security and
judicial challenges facing Libya, Libyans are still hopeful of their country's
future.
"Despite the gravity of some of the security and political developments
that have taken place over the course of the last three months, Libyans have
not lost confidence" Mitri had told the Council as it examined the situation
in the North African country.
Grant said in his statement to the press that the Council expressed "deep
concern about the recent acts of violence in Benghazi, which claimed lives of
many people, and called upon all Libyans to rally around their legitimate
institutions, both civilian and military."
The Council stressed the necessity to reject violence in all its forms and
to resolve disagreements peacefully and through dialogue and encouraged all
Libyans to engage with the political process of reconciliation and
constitutional reform through peaceful and inclusive means, underpinned by
respect for the rule of law.
It also expressed "serious concern" about the continued arbitrary
detentions without access to due process of thousands of people held outside
the authority of the state, and called for their immediate release or their
transfer to detention centers under state authority.
It condemned cases of torture and mistreatment observed in illegal
detention centers in Libya and insisted that such practices should not be
tolerated in Libya, calling on the authorities to investigate all violations
of human rights and to bring the perpetrators of such acts to justice.
In that regard, the Council welcomed recent legislative initiatives
undertaken by the General National Congress in Libya, and noted the importance
of the cooperation of the Libyan authorities with the International Criminal
Court (ICC) and its Prosecutor Fatu Bensouda. (end)
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