Spanish Consul in Tripoli meets personally with Alicia Armesto, the activist detained in Libya

Eduardo González The Spanish consul in Tripoli was able to meet personally in Benghazi with Alicia Armesto, the Spanish activist from the so-called Global Sumud Land who was arrested along with a dozen colleagues on May 24 by the authorities in eastern Libya while negotiating a permit to cross the area with humanitarian aid to Gaza. “Our consul in Libya has finally been able to personally visit and meet with our compatriot Alicia Armesto, who is in a center in Benghazi along with other European citizens and people of other nationalities from the same convoy,” declared Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Tuesday, June 2. The consul, he continued, “was able to verify firsthand that both the clothing and books we had sent her have arrived and that she is able to use them.” Furthermore, “he was able to speak with her about her well-being and her needs, and he conveyed to her that we are certainly providing her with all consular and diplomatic protection and doing everything in our power to ensure her return to Spain as soon as possible,” he added. According to the minister, “the consul has taken advantage of his stay in Benghazi since yesterday, once he received the necessary authorization to travel to that part of the country, to meet with the Attorney General and other authorities, and we will not relent in all diplomatic and consular efforts until we achieve her full release and she can return to her family in Spain as soon as possible.” On Tuesday, Albares met with relatives of Alicia Armesto at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explaining the efforts of the Spanish consul to "provide her with all consular and diplomatic protection and carry out the necessary procedures for her release, to which the Government is committed," according to sources at the Ministry. [caption id="attachment_144459" align="alignnone" width="750"] Albares with Armesto's family. / Photo: MAUC[/caption] The Sumud Global Land Convoy (comprising 230 participants from over 20 countries, including doctors, engineers, educators, lawyers, and eco-builders, along with seven ambulances, 20 mobile homes, and ten trucks) was traveling through North Africa, in coordination with the Sumud Global Flotilla's maritime mission, to deliver humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Gaza. According to the Flotilla, the convoy had permission from Egyptian authorities to cross the country on its journey from Mauritania to the Rafah Crossing. However, when the group was still near the Libyan city of Sirte, the organizers received a public statement on May 14th from the authorities in eastern Libya demanding that they transfer the humanitarian aid to the Libyan Red Crescent Society and informing them that only Libyan citizens could escort the aid to the Sallum border crossing, “attributing these orders to the Egyptian authorities.” “In good faith and in accordance with the moral responsibility to ensure that vital aid and specialists reach the besieged population of Gaza as soon as possible,” the Ground Convoy agreed five days later to transfer the humanitarian aid to the Libyan Red Crescent Society, which would guarantee its delivery through the Rafah crossing. However, when the agreed deadline passed without any response from the authorities or the Libyan Red Crescent Society, a ten-member negotiating delegation traveled to the area on May 24 to discuss the terms previously agreed upon with the authorities in eastern Libya. Once there, they were ordered to board unmarked white vans and travel to an unknown location. “Communication with the negotiators was immediately cut off, and no information about their situation was released until the authorities in eastern Libya announced their arrest the following day,” when they were accused of violating “entry permit procedures.” The detained negotiators, including two doctors, are: Alicia Armesto Núñez (Spanish, member of the Journalists' Syndicate), Laura Kwoczała (Poland), Jenelle Jones (USA), Dr. María Paula Giménez (Argentina), Dr. Lucas Ezequiel Aguilera (Argentina), Matías Álvarez Rodríguez (Uruguay), Ana Margarida França Santana Baptista (Portugal), Ashraf Khoja (Tunisia), Domenico Centrone (Italy), and Leonarda Alberizia (Italy). Therefore, the Sumud Global Flotilla has called upon the governments of each country whose nationals are among those detained to intervene immediately and unequivocally, and has demanded that consular access be maintained by all relevant governments to the ten detained negotiators. He also called for “full compliance with international humanitarian law, including the protections afforded to civilian humanitarian actors under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

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