An air strike which killed at least 44 migrants at a detention centre near the Libyan capital of Tripoli could be a war crime, the UN’s human rights chief has said. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the attack “may, depending on the precise circumstances, amount to a war crime”. Charlie Yaxley, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said the detention centre’s proximity to the weapons depot “made it a target for the airstrikes.”“Co-ordinates of this detention centre were well-known to both sides of the conflict,” Mr Yaxley said. So there can be no excuse for this centre having been hit.”The LNA said it was targeting a nearby military site, not the detention centre. The fighting for Tripoli has threatened to plunge Libya into another bout of violence on the scale of the conflict that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.–PA

Source: The North Africa Journal July 04, 2019 01:41 UTC