According to their families, the men had been beaten savagely, shot
in the chest and head, and some had their hands and feet tied.
Soldiers
from forces aligned with Libya's new unity government are seen on a
road during an advance on the Islamic State stronghold of Sirte, June 8,
2016.
The UN envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler,
has called for investigations into killing of 12 men jailed on
suspicion of crimes against protesters during the 2011 revolution in the
country.
The men were purportedly granted conditional release last week.
Libya's
judicial police said that the men were released from Tripoli's
Al-Baraka prison on Thursday, a day before their bodies were found
dumped in different parts of the capital.
According
to their families, the men had been beaten savagely, shot in the chest
and head, and some had their hands and feet tied.
"This crime should be thoroughly and independently investigated and perpetrators must face justice.
"I
urge the relevant Libyan authorities to establish a joint
national-international investigation and I will follow developments
closely," Kobler said.
The attorney general in
Tripoli has said that the case would be investigated. The UN-backed
Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli has also called for an
urgent investigation into the case.
The UN said that the killings may constitute international crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
The
case is sensitive because the GNA arrived in March with the
acquiescence of some of the armed factions that have long controlled
Tripoli and acted with impunity there.
Many were originally formed of rebels who took part in the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, and presented themselves as guardians of the revolution.
The GNA was designed to replace two rival governments set up in 2014 in Tripoli and the east.
GNA
says it is working to integrate armed groups in Tripoli into a national
security force as it tries to ease the previous government in the
capital aside.
But its critics, especially in the
east, have accused it of legitimising militias operating in western
Libya by seeking their cooperation and not acting quickly enough to
disband them.
The eastern government, parliament
and military forces all released statements on the prison killings, with
the government pointing finger at "outlawed groups that control the
jail".
Al–Baraka prison houses hundreds of inmates, many of whom are accused of being Gaddafi loyalists.
Last
year, detainees at the jail told Human Rights Watch that prison guards
frequently beat them and administered electric shocks.
Thousands of people, including women and children are detained in Libya, many of them arbitrarily, the UN said.
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