XII. AcknowledgementsResearch for this report was conducted in Libya by Ophelia Field, then-acting director of Refugee Policy, and Fred Abrahams, then-senior researcher in the Middle East and North Africa Division, and in Italy by Ophelia Field and Jude Sunderland, researcher in the Europe and Central Asia Division. The report was written by Ophelia Field, Fred Abrahams, and Ian Gorvin, consultant to the Program Office of Human Rights Watch. The report was edited by Bill Frelick, director of Refugee Policy, Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa Division, and Ben Ward, associate director of the Europe and Central Asia Division. Wilder Tayler, legal and policy director, and Joe Saunders, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch, reviewed the report. Julia Hall, counsel in the Europe and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch, Diane Goodman, former Refugee Policy director, and Elin Halla Asgeirsdottir, former consultant to the Refugee Policy Program, provided advice and support. Human Rights Watch associates in the Middle East and North Africa division Tarek Radwan and Assef Ashraf provided important technical help. Human Rights Watch interns Said Ahmed, David Anderson and Allessandra Tranquilli provided research assistance. Rana Taher and Nagwa Hassaan provided interpretation and translation. Human Rights Watch thanks the Libyan government for facilitating the April-May 2005 trip, in particular Muhammad al-Ramalli and Hadi Khanis from the passport and nationalities directorate for their time and information. Human Rights Watch also thanks the Italian nongovernmental organizations that assisted the research, particularly the Italian Refugee Council, the Jesuit Refugee Service in Rome and MSF Italy. Caristas Roma, Amnesty International in Rome, Claire Rodier (FIDH), Marc Schade Poulsen (DIHR), Sara Hamood, and Rutvica Andrijasevic all provided helpful guidance, as did several independent lawyers and journalists working in Tripoli and Rome. Human Rights Watch also thanks UNHCR in Tripoli, Rome and Geneva, and experts at OHCHR. Above all, Human Rights Watch thanks the migrants and refugees who shared their personal stories for this report. |