Human rights groups have warned that migrants and refugees that are sent back to Libya are tortured and held for ransom. A TV report now brings horrific new evidence to support the claim.
A report by British news channel Channel 4 shows new images of torture after refugees and migrants attempting to reach Europe were turned back by the Libyan coast guard.
Some migrants and refugees taken to the Khums detention center east of Tripoli were sold back to traffickers by official guards of the center. The Channel 4 report describes the process as migrants becoming human commodity.
The report includes video footage of men and women being tortured by human smugglers. “Migrants sold back to the trafficking gangs are often tortured on camera,” the report says.
Is this the Abu Ghraib of the migrant crisis?
Watch NOW on Channel 4 News – a shocking report from @mattfrei on the incarceration, brutality and torture of migrants in Libya, and how the EU enables it. pic.twitter.com/BOZv15CQDD
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) February 25, 2019
One man was tortured with molten plastic dripping onto his back, causing him to spasm violently. Another was beaten as a cinder block was placed on his midsection to keep him steady. Images show men and women crumpled in a bloodied mess, causing the broadcaster to compare these images to the torture and abuse at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
There were other pictures of torture and abuse, possibly of migrants, in response to the tweet..