Au moins 7 civils dont 3 enfants tués dans leur maison et 20 blessés par l’offensive égyptienne en Libye - HRW
▻http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/02/24/libyaegypt-civilian-toll-derna-air-strikes
(New York) – At least seven civilians, including three children, died in the joint Egyptian/Libyan airstrikes on the eastern city of Derna on February 16, 2015. Libya and Egypt should conduct speedy and transparent investigations into the deaths.
Indiscriminate attacks that cannot or do not distinguish between military targets and civilians or civilian infrastructure violate the laws of war. Serious violations of the laws of war, carried out with criminal intent, may be war crimes.
“Egypt and Libya say they are fighting extremists affiliated with ISIS, but that doesn’t give them a free hand to kill civilians,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director. “All parties to the conflicts in Libya need to do their utmost to spare civilians and should immediately investigate any civilian casualties.”
Human Rights Watch documented seven civilian deaths that appear to be a result of the airstrikes on Derna, and interviewed families of six of the victims by phone, all killed in their homes in the eastern city’s Al-Shiha neighborhood. The dead included a mother, Rabiha al-Mansouri, and three of her four children, Afraa, Zakaria, and Huthaifa al-Karshoufi, who died when a missile hit their home. Others were Osama al-Shteiwi, a student who was watching from the roof of his home, who was hit by shrapnel; Attia Bousheiba al-Shaari, who died after the front of his house collapsed on him; and Hanan Faraj al-Drissi, who was on the roof of her home when a missile struck the street in front.
Residents told Human Rights Watch that the air strikes wounded at least 20 other civilians, some of whom were in intensive care at al-Hreish hospital.
Attacks targeting civilians or civilian property, and attacks that do not or cannot discriminate between civilians and fighters, are prohibited under the international laws governing the conduct of armed conflicts.
