The European Council has imposed restrictive measures on 11 individuals and four entities responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses in a number of countries, including Libya.
The U.S., Britain, and Germany earlier urged the Council’s 15-member Libya Sanctions Committee to blacklist Mohammed al-Kani and the Kaniyat militia.
Since their escape from Tarhuna last summer following a military defeat, dozens of mass graves have been discovered and the deaths attributed to Kaniyat militiamen.
The EU imposed sanctions on two individuals and the militia group over “extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Libya.”
The sanctions targeted Mohammed Khalifa al-Kani and his brother Abderrahim al-Kani.
Both men are accused of committing human rights violations between 2015 and June 2020 in Tarhuna.
Last week, GNU Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibeh said his government would open an investigation after the discovery of bodies in Benghazi.
Under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, the listed individuals and entities are subject to an asset freeze in the EU. Also, all listed individuals are subject to a travel ban to EU countries.
Armed groups are expected to vanish if the government of national unity succeeds in uniting the military and security institutions in Libya
