ICC Note: Christian migrants passing through Libya hoping to reach Europe share stories of beating, sexual enslavement and forced conversions at the hands of Islamic State militants along the way. Amnesty International has released a report dealing with the widespread abuse experienced by migrants and refugees in the North African country. One woman from Eritrea describes being held underground for 11 months as a sex slave to the militants.
07/01/2016 Libya (ROMWE): Christian migrants in Libya hoping to reach Europe have detailed the persecution they have faced at the hands of Islamic State including starvation, beatings, sexual slavery and forced conversion to Islam.
A report by Amnesty International dealing with the widespread abuse faced by migrants and refugees in Libya has uncovered the grievous conditions experienced by Christians at the hands of IS (Isis/Daesh) while travelling through the North African state.
Amal, a 21-year-old Eritrean woman, described how she was raped by different men and was finally assigned as a “wife” to one IS fighter who also raped her after she was kidnapped near Benghazi in July 2015.
The young woman described how she and a group of 71 people she was travelling with were deprived of food for up to three days at a time over a period of months.
“They took [the Christians] to Tripoli and kept us underground – we didn’t see the sun for nine months. We were 11 women from Eritrea,” she said. “Sometimes we didn’t eat for three days. Other times they would give us one meal a day, half a piece of bread.”
Amal also described how the captives were pressured into converting into Islam under threat of death and were beaten with hoses or sticks. “Sometimes they would frighten us with their guns, or threaten to slaughter us with their knives,” she explained. After women agreed to convert the sexual violence and rape would begin.
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