Tripoli, 14 December 2017 - Seventeen senior officers of the Libya Presidential Guard completed today a week-long training on international human rights law in Tripoli, conducted by the Human Rights office of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The 17 participants included heads of divisions, as well as the Presidential Guard’s own training office.   

UNSMIL, with the assistance of an international expert, has been collaborating with the Presidential Guard Office of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law to organise the training.

The curriculum of the training included topics related to the regional and international human rights system and accountability mechanisms.  The training also focused on aspects of international human rights law and humanitarian law that are directly relevant to security forces and their specific tasks, especially he the theory of the use of firearms to prevent excessive or disproportionate use of force and loss of life. 

UNSMIL furthermore presented modules on the role of security forces in a democracy. It integrated a gender perspective by discussing the role of women in security forces.  Other important topics considered by the participants were the prevention of torture and unlawful deprivation of liberty. 

UNSMIL is currently in the process of advising the Presidential Guard on the establishment of an internal compliance and accountability mechanism.