Médecins Sans Frontières Suspends Work in Detention Centres

27 January 2012 – Detainees in the Libyan city of Misrata are being tortured and denied urgent medical care, leading the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières to suspend its operations in detention centres in Misrata, MSF announced today.

Médecins Sans Frontières teams began working in Misrata’s detention centres in August 2011, to treat war wounded detainees. Since then, the organisation’s doctors were increasingly confronted with patients who suffered injuries caused by torture during interrogation sessions. The interrogations were held outside the detention centres. In total, Médecins Sans Frontières treated 115 people who had torture-related wounds and reported all the cases to the relevant authorities in Misrata. Since January, several of the patients returned to interrogation centres have even been tortured again.

“Some officials have sought to exploit and obstruct our medical work,” said Médecins Sans Frontières General Director Christopher Stokes. “Patients were brought to us in the middle of interrogation for medical care, in order to make them fit for further interrogation. This is unacceptable. Our role is to provide medical care to war casualties and sick detainees, not to repeatedly treat the same patients between torture sessions.”

Médecins Sans Frontières medical teams were also asked to treat patients inside the interrogation centres, which was categorically refused by the organisation.

The most alarming case occurred on 3 January, when Médecins Sans Frontières doctors treated a group of 14 detainees returning from an interrogation centre located outside the detention facilities. Despite previous demands from Médecins Sans Frontières for the immediate end of torture, nine of the 14 detainees suffered numerous injuries and displayed obvious signs of torture.

The Médecins Sans Frontières team informed the National Army Security Service—the agency responsible for interrogations—that a number of patients needed to be transferred to hospitals for urgent and specialised care. All but one of the detainees were again deprived of essential medical care and were subjected to renewed interrogations and torture outside the detention centres.

After meeting with various authorities, Médecins Sans Frontières sent an official letter on 9 January to the Misrata Military Council, the Misrata Security Committee, the National Army Security Service, and the Misrata Local Civil Council, again demanding an immediate stop to any form of ill treatment of detainees.

“No concrete action has been taken,” said Stokes. “Instead, our team received four new torture cases. We have therefore come to the decision to suspend our medical activities in the detention centres.”

Médecins Sans Frontières has been present in Misrata since April 2011, in the midst of the Libyan conflict. Since August 2011, Médecins Sans Frontières has worked in Misrata’s detention centres, treating war wounded, performing surgeries, and providing orthopaedic follow-up care to people who had suffered bone fractures. The organisation’s medical teams have carried out 2,600 consultations, including 311 for violent trauma.

Médecins Sans Frontières will continue its mental health support activities in schools and health facilities in Misrata, as well as its assistance to 3,000 African migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons in and around Tripoli.

Médecins Sans Frontières is an international humanitarian medical organisation that has worked in Libya since 25 February 2011. To ensure the independence of its medical work, Médecins Sans Frontières relies solely on private donations to finance its activities in Libya and does not accept any funding from governments, donor agencies, or military or political groups.

ENDS