(Tripoli, June 27, 2012) -- The sixteenth anniversary of the Abu Salim
prison massacre on June 28 to 29, 2012, offers victims' families across
Libya the first chance to commemorate the 1996 tragedy without fear of
government repression, Human Rights Watch said today.

The
government should establish a justice system that can and will prosecute
and fairly try individuals responsible for the egregious crime, in
which more than 1,200 prisoners were shot and killed, Human Rights Watch
said. The bodies of the victims have yet to be found.

"Sixteen
years after the mass killing in Abu Salim prison, Libyans can finally
hope for justice," said Fred Abrahams, special advisor at Human Rights
Watch. "This means finding the bodies and identifying and punishing the
people responsible for the crime."

A number of guards and senior
Gaddafi-era officials have been detained and are under investigation by
the military prosecutor for the 1996 prison massacre. They should be
given full due process rights guaranteed in Libya law and granted fair
trials, Human Rights Watch said.