Libya slave auctions may be crime against humanity: UN chief

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 20 (APP):UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday expressed his horror over video footage showing migrants being sold as slaves in Libya, saying these auctions should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity.
“I am horrified at news reports and video footage showing African migrants in Libya reportedly being sold as slaves,” the secretary-general said in a statement he read out at a media stakeout.
US television network CNN aired the footage last week of an apparent live auction in Libya where black men were presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as US $ 400.
“I abhor these appalling acts,” he told reporters.
“Slavery has no place in our world and these actions are among the most egregious abuses of human rights and may amount to crimes against humanity,” Guterres told reporters.

The secretary-general called on “all competent authorities” to investigate the slave auctions without delay, adding he had asked the “relevant United Nations actors to actively pursue this matter.”
Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Metig said his UN-backed Government of National Accord would investigate the allegations, in a statement posted Sunday on the Facebook page of the GNA’s press office.
The images have triggered outrage from African leaders and calls for an inquiry.
Guinean President Alpha Conde, who is also chairman of the African Union, on Friday called for an inquiry and prosecutions relating to what he termed a “despicable trade… from another era”.