Posted
February 5th, 2010
by
UPDATE: 31 January 2010
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has issued an unequivocal statement demanding improvements in Libya’s human rights situation and calling for the whereabouts of Jaballa Matar. (To read the report in The Observer, please click here.)
Statement by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
The Libyan government must urgently clarify the fate and whereabouts of Jaballa Matar, a prominent political dissident. It is now almost 20 years since Jaballa Matar was abducted from Cairo and sent to Libya. Letters smuggled from prison in 1992 and 1995 revealed that he was being held in Abu Salim, a political prison in Tripoli. Jaballa Matar’s family has not seen him since the day he was abducted. The terrible suffering and uncertainty that arises under these circumstances must be brought to an immediate end.
In recent years, the Libyan government has taken important steps to end its diplomatic isolation and assume its rightful place as a fully-fledged member of the international community. Libya played an important role in helping to end Apartheid and contributing to the liberation of South Africa’s people. Now it must turn to liberating its own people. Libya will be a stronger and more just country if it deals with its painful past and remedies the injustices experienced by its own citizens.
The international community, including investors and the business community, must continue to insist that Libya release all political prisoners and clarify the fate and whereabouts of those who are missing. It cannot be business as usual until these issues have been addressed. Libya’s passage from isolation to acceptance will only be complete when it has provided victims of human rights abuse with the remedies they deserve. Addressing the case of Jaballa Matar, would be an excellent place to start.
Cape Town, South Africa
For more information, please visit www.freematar.org
Originally posted with the url: www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/campaigns/campaignforjaballamatar/campaigndevelopments/
