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By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 2 March 2014:
Thirty Tebu, including members of the National Tebu Assembly (NTA), yesterday staged a demonstration against discrimination . . .[restrict]outside the offices of the UN Support mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
Tebu activist Hassan Al-Tubawey told the Libya Herald that demonstrators had gathered to voice a building sense of resentment felt by the ethnic minority group. In particular, he cited perceived injustices in Kufra, Sebha and Ajdabiya since the revolution.
He urged UNSMIL to launch investigations into human rights violations against the Tebu community, saying that those involved in the deaths of Tebu needed to face justice. He added that UNSMIL should live up to its promises and founding principles by protecting the rights of minority groups.
UNSMIL staff, who had been given prior notification about the demonstration, later met with the protesters. Youness Abouyoub, a UN advisor on regional issues, said that UNSMIL had listened to their demands and would pass on their statements.
Last week, delegates from the NTA met with representatives from UNSMIL to discuss the Tebu boycott of elections to the Constitutional Drafting Committee. The last-minute boycott of the two seats set aside for the minority group saw all Tebu candidates withdraw from the elections. [/restrict]
