Thread by @MaudJullien

@Frontex & Malta are sharing coordinates of refugee boats trying to escape Libya with a vessel called the Tareq Bin Zeyad, operated by a militia linked to Russia, human trafficking & war crimes - a new investigation by @LHreports & partners reveals. lighthousereports.com/investigation/…

Tareq Bin Zeyad (TBZ) is one of the most dangerous militia groups in the world. It is run by Saddam Haftar, the powerful son of East Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar. The group has been operating a vessel since May, intercepting over 1000 people at sea in Libya & Malta.

We analysed several boat interceptions by TBZ in Maltese waters. Experts say the militia would not have been able to find the refugee boats without help from surveillance planes. We found that TBZ received coordinates from EU planes in 3 ways:

1- Directly from a Frontex pilot. On July 26, a Frontex plane issued a mayday on behalf of a refugee vessel & shared its coordinates via radio. TBZ answered within minutes. Frontex only informed national rescue authorities after issuing the Mayday. They never replied.

2- Through Tripoli. In their own system, Frontex recorded that, on August 16th, coordinates they shared with Libya’s port authorities were handed over to TBZ and led to an interception. Frontex routinely communicates refugee boat coordinates to Tripoli, knowing how they are used.

3- Directly from a Maltese Air force pilot. On August 2, a pilot with a Maltese English accent was recorded giving coordinates to TBZ by radio. Hours later, the TBZ vessel was spotted by @Seawatch in Maltese waters. Malta’s Armed forces did not deny the incident.

Both Frontex & Malta said their aim when sharing the coordinates was to help people in distress. However, in all of the cases we analysed there were safer options : merchant ships were sailing nearby and NGO vessels, Maltese or Italian Coast Guard could have assisted.

According to internatl law expert @markard_chair Frontex bears responsibility. "Frontex knows that this situation is more of a kidnapping than a rescue. You have to imagine pirates announcing they'll deal with a distress case. That wouldn't be right either."

"The agency should have ensured that someone else took over the rescue after the distress call - for example one of the merchant ships, which would have been on site much faster anyway." says Markard.

We spoke to seven refugees who were pulled back by the TBZ. They all report abuse at the hands of the militia, including torture, forced labour and ransom payment. One of them, Bassel, was detained and tortured for days.

He says TBZ crew shaved his eyebrows and lashes; mutilated his head. "They beat us until our bodies turned black ", he says, “then they threw our bodies in the water”. They were left overnight in the Benghazi harbour where the boat was docked, the salt burning their wounds.

Finally, Bassel recounts, the militia men made him wear an orange prisoner suit and stand against a wall. They opened fire, laughing as he collapsed. It was only when he regained consciousness and checked himself for blood that he realised the bullets hadn’t hit him.

A Frontex drone was filming when Bassel’s boat was intercepted by TBZ. Bassel recounts the moment the militia approached: “We told them to leave us alone, that we had children and women on board. But they accused us of having weapons & drugs & opened fire on our boat.”

Frontex claims that due to poor visibility on that day “detailed observations were challenging”. The same Frontex drone spotted Bassel’s vessel 2 days before its interception by TBZ and shared coordinates with Malta and Greece.

Frontex declined to comment on whether their coordinates were used to intercept Bassel’s vessel and on allegations of torture and human rights abuses by TBZ. They also declined to comment on whether TBZ was an appropriate partner.

Our consortium obtained confidential EU documents showing States are aware of the illicit nature of many of TBZ’s activities, including human trafficking. The militia was described in an EU report as being supported by Russian private Military group PCM-Wagner.

This investigation was carried out by a consortium of journalists @bash_deeb @priyankashank17 @MoBassiki @MaudJullien @Ajsanad team @federica_marsi @Anealla @stluedke

@linaverschwele @mohannadnajar @JackSapoch @tomasstatius @klaasvandijken @nicmeilak @kurtsansone @nissssim @jonathan_moens @Ahmedhajhamdo

Publications in @SIRAJ_SYRIA @LeMonde_Afrique @derspiegel @maltatoday @AJEnglish