Rights group says Libya gunmen preventing civilians from returning

Feb 22, 2012, 6:05 GMT

Cairo - A leading rights group said Tuesday that Libyan authorities and gunmen in the city of Misurata were preventing people they accuse of backing former leader Moamer Gaddafi from returning to neighbouring villages they fled during last year's civil war.

'Tomina and Kararim are ghost towns because Misurata officials are blocking thousands of people who fled from returning home,' said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at New York-based Human Rights Watch (HWR), who recently visited the villages.

'Armed groups from Misurata are openly looting and destroying their homes, as they have been doing for months in Tawergha,' Bouckaert said in a statement.

Misurata, Libya's third-largest city, was besieged for weeks by forces loyal to Gaddafi and was liberated by rebel forces after fierce battles. Residents of several villages around Misurata who supported Gaddafi fled their homes during and after the conflict, which ended with the leader's capture and killing in October.

'The Misurata authorities should issue immediate orders to the militias they control to stop the looting and home destruction, and should deploy a protective security forces in the affected area to facilitate the return of displaced people,' Human Rights Watch said.

The ruling National Transitional Council has been unable to assert control over hundreds of militiamen who helped bring down Gaddafi's regime.

On Monday, residents of Misurata held the country's first post-Gaddafi election to choose a local council.