fall of former leader Colonel Mu’ammar alGaddafi. The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA), which emerged from UN-backed talks, failed to consolidate power on the ground. Its legitimacy remained contested by Libya’s recognized Parliament and forces supporting rival former governments based in Tripoli, on the one hand, and Tobruk and al-Bayda, on the other. IS lost its stronghold in the city of Sirte to pro-GNA forces after months of fighting which caused another wave of displacement. The conflict continued to be marked on all sides by serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes. Various forces attacked hospitals and carried out indiscriminate air strikes and artillery attacks that killed and injured civilians; in June, the World Health Organization reported that 60% of public hospitals in areas of conflict had ceased to function or were inaccessible. Armed groups and militias in Libya also carried out abductions, holding victims as hostages for prisoner exchange or ransom, and detained civilians on account of their origin, opinions or perceived political or tribal affiliations. IS forces summarily killed captured opposition fighters and civilians in areas they controlled or contested. Other forces, including those affiliated with the GNA, also committed unlawful killings in Tripoli, Benghazi and elsewhere. Years of internecine strife in Libya, just as in other countries engulfed in armed conflict, had a devastating impact on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, as access to food, electricity, health care, education and other services was severely curtailed. INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT The armed conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya were all exacerbated to some extent by foreign involvement. Europeans and other nationals travelled to the region to fight for IS, while Russian, US, Turkish, Saudi Arabian and other armed forces from the region and elsewhere left their deadly mark. 50 In Syria, government forces recaptured significant territory from opposing armed groups in 2016, aided by Shi’a militia fighters from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran and an intensive Russian bombing campaign that killed and injured thousands of civilians in oppositionheld areas. A US-led military coalition also conducted air strikes against IS and other armed groups in Syria and Iraq, killing and injuring civilians, and US forces carried out strikes in Libya and Yemen. The Saudi Arabia-led military coalition in Yemen used internationally banned cluster munitions and other weapons obtained from the USA, the UK and other states in indiscriminate attacks on areas controlled by the Huthis and their allies, in which civilians were killed. Meanwhile the UN Security Council, critically hamstrung by divisions between its permanent member states, continued to fail to do its job of addressing threats to international peace and security and protecting civilians. UN efforts to promote peace negotiations made little or no progress while UN agencies struggled to address the humanitarian needs that the conflicts generated among the tens of thousands of civilians forced to living under siege, and the millions internally displaced or seeking safety as refugees. FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION, ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY All across the region, state authorities unduly restricted and impeded exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Most governments maintained and enforced laws that criminalized peaceful speech, writing or other expression, including social media and other online comment, that they deemed critical, offensive or insulting to public authorities, symbols or religion, or that disclosed information they wished to withhold. In Bahrain, the authorities prosecuted and imprisoned human rights defenders on charges that included “inciting hatred against the regime” and for criticizing Saudi Arabian bombing raids in Yemen, and barred media Amnesty International Report 2016/17