Six months have passed since an armed militia snatched Riad Al-Shershari’s three children out of their mother’s grasp, directly in front of their school in Sorman town west of Tripoli. The family’s driver was shot in the feet trying to defend them.

Al-Shershari, a businessman, told Correspondents that the militia’s last contact with him was five months ago and he has since not had the opportunity to negotiate with the kidnappers, or how to meet their demands. “I wish they would call me again,” he said, traumatized.

Six months have passed since an armed militia snatched Riad Al-Shershari’s three children out of their mother’s grasp, directly in front of their school in Sorman town west of Tripoli. The family’s driver was shot in the feet trying to defend them.

Al-Shershari, a businessman, told Correspondents that the militia’s last contact with him was five months ago and he has since not had the opportunity to negotiate with the kidnappers, or how to meet their demands. “I wish they would call me again,” he said, traumatized.

Al-Shershari’s children, 10-year-old D., 8-year-old A. and 6-year-old M. were in the car with their mother and the family driver, on their way to school, according to Al-Shershari. “Suddenly, armed men surprised them in front of the school door; the men ran towards them firing shots at the driver and the engine while two other cars blocked their path. They were a trained militia, not a gang.”

Shortly after the abduction, Al-Shershari received four phone calls from the kidnappers who demanded a 20 million Dinar ransom (US $15million). “Although the amount is huge,” said the father, “I tried to negotiate with them and keep the line open as long as I could.”

However, the kidnappers stopped contacting the father after two of them were arrested at the beginning of 2016, along with other suspects. The detained militia members admitted the crime and gave away the names of other persons involved. Since then, according to Al-Shershair, all the security agencies had this information; yet, they could not arrest them: “They are protected by their tribe who refuses to deliver them to justice,” he said.

 No mercy shown to children

Despite the grotesque nature of this crime, Shershari’s children may arguably have been more fortunate than Ehab Al-Madani’s child, a nine-year-old boy who was tortured by his kidnappers before they killed him and threw his dead body into the street on May 8, after his father failed to provide the demanded ransom. Al-Madani’s brother was also kidnapped recently, but the family wishes not to publically discuss this case.

Al-Madani, according to Taher Badawi, spokesperson of the Libyan Elders Council, is the second victim of this type of crime, after Abdul-Ilah Daghnoush’s eight-year-old child was killed this past March in a similar context. Al-Badawi posted this statement on his page on Facebook, and according to the same post, the father of Abdul-Ilah Daghnoosh, “Was hysterical, and could not talk to me”.

Al-Badawi said the elders were unable to provide solutions to this expanding phenomenon. However, he confirmed that the (Shura) Council is in constant contact with security agencies and municipal officials. The solution, according to Al-Badawi, is activating the law enforcement and judicial institutions, so that citizens can live in safety and dignity under the law.

 A few happy endings

The list of murdered children continues to grow. Some children, however, have been released, like S. Al-Barouni (10 years old) who returned to his family in Janzour. Al-Barounie’s kidnapper asked for a 400,000-dinar (US $291,000) ransom, and the child was released within 15 days. Another child A. Al-Soawei (13 years old) from Wrshfana, west of Tripoli, was freed by the Fursan Janzour brigade, two weeks after his kidnapping. However, most of these kidnappings took place between February and May of 2016.

The families of both the kidnapped children or those who were released have not said much to journalists, either for fear that their children might be targeted again or in order to forget their tragedies. The family of the two-year-old girl B. M. Amer, who was kidnapped in Al-Zawia city west of Tripoli, refuses to give any information about the case, and the fate of the child is still unknown.

Torture witness

Last April, five-year-old R. Nafis who was taken from the hands of his mother was hit with the back of a rifle across the face, which broke his nose. He is now free after his family paid the 70,000 Dinar (US $51,000) ransom, but his days in captivity were full of anguish and cruelty, according to Abdulwahab Khalifa Al-Hajaji, a 34-year-old man kidnapped by the same brigade.

 “R. went through the worst sorts of torture and abuse,” Al-Hajaji remembered. “His face was swollen and he screamed the entire time. They used to force feed him and poured ice on him to cover the bruises they left on him. R. used to come to my room and he called me “uncle” and I recognized him—  he  was the son of my  neighbor who disappeared some days earlier and his family was struggling to collect the ransom.”

Al-Hajaji says that while the family could eventually come up with the ransom to rescue their son, they have no idea what he has been through. “I heard details about the way they abused him that are too grotesque for me to say.”

 Organized crime

Al-Sadik Al-Sour, head of the investigation department at the Public Attorney’s office told Correspondents that the security agencies are facing rogue gangs who operate on a level than can described as organized crime.

Al-Sour categorized these gangs who kidnap for personal monetary gain, and they do not usually target certain social groups; or gangs who operate for the benefit of ISIS, and usually negotiate for prisoners or large amounts of money and target foreigners and the rich.

Although, Al-Sour could not provide Correspondents with statistics of kidnapping cases, he did confirm that the numbers are on the rise, and that a serious response is imperative.

As for the Al-Shershari children, Al-Souri says that the gang members are now known to the Investigation Department, some of them have been arrested, and arrest orders were issued against the others by Al-Zawia criminal investigation office and the Security Department in Sorman.

However, Al-Souri warned against the negative effects of persistent public opinion cases. He explained that the legal procedures protect the rights of the accused. The problem, according to Al-Souri is not in judicial system; rather it is a problem of executive apparatuses like security services and police departments. These apparatuses do not cooperate with non-official parties who claim that they contact the Public Attorney’s Office to get permission to conduct arrests and raids.

The last year was the worst in the western part of Libya in terms of Kidnapping and blackmail crimes. The Security Services in Janzour alone recorded 10 murders, 56 kidnapping cases, 70 armed car robberies in a three months period between April and the end of July 2015. Unfortunately, the phenomenon expanded by the end of last year and the past few months of the current year.

The case became a subject of public opinion, and the families of the kidnapped children organized a protest that demanded the security apparatus and the consecutive governments to look into their suffering and deter criminals well known to all, yet they hide behind the weapons purchased with extortion money.