In
a written statement released on Thursday from a panel of UN experts
including Urmila Bhoola, special rapporteur on contemporary slavery, and
Felipe Gonzalez Morales, special rapporteur on the human rights of
migrants, the panel said it was "extremely disturbed" by the images.
"It
is now clear that slavery is an outrageous reality in Libya. The
auctions are reminiscent of one of the darkest chapters in human
history, when millions of Africans were uprooted, enslaved, trafficked
and auctioned to the highest bidder."
People for sale: Where lives are auctioned for $400
The
slave trade was brought to the United Nations' attention after
undercover CNN reporters witnessed a dozen men being sold at auction
outside Libya's capital of Tripoli.
Many
of those being sold are migrants like Victory, a 21-year-old man who
fled Nigeria and spent his life savings in hopes of reaching Europe. He
made it as far as Libya when he ran out of funds, he told CNN, and
smugglers sold him as a day laborer to make back a profit.
Victory
was sold as a slave several times; the smugglers also demanded ransom
payments from his family before they eventually released him.
The report has caused a harsh backlash across Africa and Europe, led to protests outside the Libyan Embassy in Paris and sparked calls for a deeper investigation. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was horrified by the reports and said they may amount to crimes against humanity.
A woman holds a flag of Cameroon during a march against "slavery in Libya" on November 18 in Paris.
The
UN panel on Thursday called on the international community, in
particular the European Union and European states, to address the issue,
saying that present policies cause a "dangerous trade," because they
prevent a safe rite of passage for migrants and refugees.
"The
government and the international community, particularly the EU, which
is the destination of most of the migrants, must take immediate and
decisive action to ensure that this crime does not continue. They must
also urgently prioritize the release of all those people who have been
enslaved. Enslavement is most often an extreme form of racial
discrimination," the panel added.
"It
is a dangerous trend that European states are shifting responsibility
for migrants to African countries instead of creating regular, safe,
affordable and accessible channels for them," the panel said. "Any
agreement reached with the Libyan authorities needs to be in line with
international human rights standards. European states can be held
accountable for any human rights violations migrants are subject to."
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