UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya Calls for the Immediate Release of Abducted Humanitarian Workers, Warns It Compromises Aid Delivery to Southern Libya

03 November 2015 - The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, Ali Al-Za’tari, condemns the continued abduction in southern Libya of two Libyan humanitarian workers affiliated with aid agencies despite the repeated calls for their immediate and unconditional release. He cautions that the ability to deliver crucial aid to the needy in the South is being affected by the threats to the aid workers.

The Humanitarian Coordinator also expresses serious concern about reports of poor detention conditions endured by the abducted humanitarian workers.

“This continued abduction is undermining the efforts to distribute much-needed humanitarian assistance to the most affected communities in Libya,” Mr. Al-Za’tari said. “The Libyan people in the South, who need the assistance the most, are victims paying the price because this abduction is compromising the distribution of aid to them.”

The two men, Mr. Mohamed al-Monsef Ali al-Sha’lali and Mr. Walid Ramadan Salhub, work for the Shaik Tahir Azzawy Charity Organization, an implementing partner for a number of international humanitarian agencies. They were abducted on 5 June 2015 in al-Shwayrif in southern Libya while on their way to deliver humanitarian assistance to areas in southwestern Libya. Unrelated to them, their abductors apparently seek to exchange them for a relative held in their hometown of Zawiya since 2014. Five other aid workers abducted on 5 June were subsequently released.

Mr. Al-Za’tari stresses the urgency of the immediate and unconditional release of the two men. He called on Libyans in position of responsibility and influence to intervene to ensure the release of the two workers. The Humanitarian Coordinator recalls that hostage-taking and intentionally directing attacks against civilian personnel involved in humanitarian assistance are war crimes.

“Those humanitarian workers have gone out of their way - 400 kilometers away from their hometown – to assist their fellow country folks despite the risks entailed. They deserve to be appreciated, not abducted,” he said.