The NGO Human Rights Watch is calling for an independent investigation in Libya to examine the failures in the management of the floods which ravaged the east of the country last September.
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The passage of Hurricane Daniel and the collapse of two dams on the night of September 10 to 11 caused considerable damage and caused the death of nearly 13,000 people in Derna, in eastern Libya. The disaster also caused the displacement of 43,000 residents following the destruction of entire neighborhoods. The Libyan Attorney General announced the opening of an investigation.
Transparent
But according to the NGO Human Rights Watch, a transparent investigation is necessary, because the Libyan authorities should have evacuated people living in the flooded area in Derna when the first signs of danger appeared. “ I believe we need to get to the bottom of it to understand how this collapse of two dams could have happened. There is always a risk that this will be repeated elsewhere in Libya because of this dysfunction attributable to government rivalries, argues Eric Goldstein, Human Rights Watch spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa. There needs to be an investigation, not at the national level, but at the international level. »
“ Human bankruptcy »
As a guarantee of transparency and credibility, the NGO says it has proposed that this investigation be carried out by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. “ I believe that there is not really a body in Libya capable of carrying out an investigation that would provide the necessary answers, continues Eric Goldstein. It was more than a meteorological disaster, it was also a human failure. This happened in a country where there is a dysfunction of governance. There were many warnings that the dams needed maintenance, which was not given “.
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