Hunt for Libyan missing persons on

Dr. Murad Warfali, member of the Preparatory Committee of the Forum for the Missing, said that one of the most important achievements of the conference was that it pushed the issue of the missing persons forward. He added that the recommendations were supported by a signature campaign, soon to be submitted to the designated ministry in the new government. Warfali told “Arabstoday” that the conference called for establishing coordination, “Coordination for Libya’s Missing”, comprised of two members from every city, in order to exchange information, organise events and facilitate communication between all parties. He stated that an integrated demo on the missing, plus ways to recognise recently found corpses have been displayed, in addition to demonstrating the committee’s activities on the subject, including databases, pictures of the missing persons, and the last updates on finding unidentified corpses while explaining relevant technical and legal details. Concerning the 105 buried in Sidi Abheiri in Bin Jawad, whose pictures have been recently distributed with some recognised by their families, Dr. Omar Khalid, who works in the department of Forensic Medicine in Benghazi and is currently cooperating with the Ministry of Martyrs, wounded, and missing, stated in the sidelines of the conference that “these martyrs were all revolutionaries who were collected in March, with four or five wounded who died afterward in Sirte hospital. Khalid explained that the corpses have been kept in a freezer until the end of April, where they were examined by Sirte’s prosecution and returned to the fridge. Crime investigators in Sirte took photos of them on July 4 and authorised their burial, where citizens volunteered to take care of the washing, shrouding, and burial in the same month. The doctor also stated that he received original records of the examination this week as well as some personal belongings of the victims; like cell phones, keys, Quraans, necklaces, rings, SIM cards, and school IDs. All belongings are to be disclosed in detail by the end of this week. Institutions and associations that participated in the forum from Benghazi included Rahma Association, the National Fact-Finding Committee, the domestic association to support the wounded and missing, the Youth Council, the Libyan Association for the Missing, the February 17 Coalition, and independent volunteers. Specialists like Dr. Omar Khalid and Dr. Abdel Hamid Jibril enriched the debate during the conference, while some activists and volunteers, like Engineer Fathi Masheity, Mohamed Raqee, and Nouri Bounkheila, contributed a great deal in revealing previously unknown facts, particularly concerning the burial of unidentified corpses which exposed the disastrous scale of the tragedy. The moving words of some of the family members of the missing had great impact on the attendees, and revealed a high level of frustration and sorrow felt by families, caused by what they believe to be negligence on the part of the government and the media. The committee of the forum for the missing and their families asked for more information on the fate of their children, demanding the more effort and coordination between specialised ministries to attain more information, which could help in figuring out the whereabouts of the missing. The information could be sourced from military sources (Gaddafi’s officers and soldiers in prisons), or from civilians who assisted Gadaffi’s brigades, like truck drivers , in addition to employees in the sectors of Health, Prosecution, and Criminal Investigation, who could have witnessed the fate of many of the martyrs. They also demanded more coordination between the Ministry of Martyrs, Wounded, and Missing, and relevant civil associations with the families of the missing. They also asked for the assistance of specialists and competencies and giving competent family members chances to work with the committee. Furthermore, they demanded that the file of the missing not be politicised and be used for opportunistic agendas, which would only result in offending the families and doubling their pain. Similarly, the file should not be used for financial gain, thus calling on specialised ministries to be cautious and to deal with international organisations and institutions with good reputations and experience on the matter, while employing capable officials. Establishing a coordination for Libya’s missing persons (Libya’s Missing Coordination) includes activists in the field from different cities, in order to coordinate and cooperate between the ministry and local associations, as well as between these associations and families of the missing as well as organising future activities like conferences, forums, workshops, and protests that may serve the cause. Protection of individual and mass graves, which hold the remains of the victims of Gaddafi’s regime, was established as necessary for observational purposes. Another priority was to expedite the payment of regular salaries to the families of the missing, through establishing an accurate payment system which follows the ministry. Coordination with experienced organisations, like the Social Security Fund, could come in handy. Coordination will include issuing death certificates for martyrs who were identified by pictures or videos. There will also be cooperation with legal consultants to bring legal cases before international and local courts against those who are evidenced to have played a role in the fate of the missing, for example those who contributed in executing revolutionaries in the fields and burying them in mass graves, burning them, or throwing them at sea, without any respect to laws for dealing with human corpses. The database for the coordination should include: a)      Unified lists of the missing across Libya. b)      DNA data of the missing. The cooperation of communication networks in Libya (Libyana and Al Madar) with relevant organisations was also stressed, in order to determine the locations of cell phones belonging to some of the missing persons, and trace their calls from their SIM cards if in use. In addition, hospitals will be provided with names of the missing, and will provide names of the wounded that have been treated with proper attention paid to unidentified individuals or those suffering from memory loss inside hospitals. Another tool is to pressure the media to give the topic proper attention by displaying pictures of the missing with information of the last places and dates they were seen. The forum, dubbed “Libya calls…where are my children”, was attended by some families of the missing, NGOs, and charity organisations relevant to the case, from Ajdabiya, Benghazi, Marj, Bayda, and Derna. The attendees numbered about 200 people.