The July 26, 2013, killing of Abdulasalam Elmessmary, was the first of a political activist since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted. The assassination appeared to signal a new turn in the violence with potentially serious implications for Libya’s stability. The other victims include two judges and at least 44 serving members of the security forces, most of whom had held positions in Gaddafi’s government. At least six were high-ranking officers under Gaddafi.

“What started as assassinations of members of the police, internal security apparatus, and military intelligence has been further aggravated by the killing of judges and a political activist,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “The failure to hold anyone accountable highlights the government’s failure to build a functioning justice system.”

According to cases documented by Human Rights Watch, political assassinations in Benghazi and Derna peaked in the second half of 2012, and again in January and July 2013. While there have been reports of assassinations in other parts of the country, they have mostly been centered in the east.

Human Rights Watch interviewed relatives, friends or witnesses of eight of the victims. Relatives told Human Rights Watch that as far as they could determine, Libyan law enforcement officials had not conducted comprehensive investigations. They said law enforcement agents did not investigate at the crime scene, summon any potential witnesses, or provide information to the families about their investigations.

Law enforcement officials acknowledged to Human Rights Watch that they had not concluded any of the investigations despite trying to conduct investigations into the assassinations. They said they lacked sophisticated means to investigate, faced many obstacles due to the prevailing security situation, and lacked the means to summon witnesses without the use of force.

No groups or individuals have claimed responsibility for the assassinations. The only person known to have been arrested escaped.

On July 23, Interior Minister Mohammad Khalifa al-Sheikh said at a news conference that “people with a past criminal record,” were behind the killings. He said that some of their identities were known but could not be revealed since the information was classified, and that the government was investigating and collecting information.

On July 28, Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said the government was determined to bring to justice “those responsible for the assassinations” in Benghazi and Derna. He said the government would consider accepting the support of an international forensics team.

“Myriad armed groups and criminals with various agendas are benefiting from a weak and dysfunctional law enforcement system where they can kill even police and judges with impunity,” Stork said. “Unless the government takes urgent steps to actually turn its own pledges into action and make building its police and criminal investigation units a priority, there is a real risk of a further surge in violence.”

“The Members of the Security Council expressed deep concern about the recent acts of violence in Benghazi which claimed lives of many people and called upon all Libyans to rally around their legitimate institutions, both civilian and military,” the 15-member Council said in a statement released to the press last night.

The Council also “encouraged all Libyans to engage with the political process of reconciliation and constitutional reform through peaceful and inclusive means, underpinned by respect for the rule of law.” The Members of the Security Council expressed deep concern about the recent acts of violence in Benghazi which claimed lives of many people and called upon all Libyans to rally around their legitimate institutions, both civilian and military.

The statement comes two days after Tarek Mitri, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, briefed the members.

Mr. Mitri, who also heads the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), said that managing Libya’s democratic transition is bound to be difficult given the legacy of decades of brutal rule and that the country could benefit from a national political dialogue on the way forward.

Muammar al-Qaddafi ruled the North African country for more than 40 years until a pro-democracy uprising in 2011 – similar to the protests in other countries in the Middle East and North Africa – led to civil war and the end of his regime.

In today’s statement, the Security Council also called on Libyan authorities “to investigate all violations of human rights and bring the perpetrators of such acts to justice.”

They expressed serious concern about the continued arbitrary detentions without access to due process of thousands of persons held outside the authority of the state and called for their immediate release or transfer to detention centres under state authority.

The Members also condemned cases of torture and mistreatment observed in illegal detention centres in Libya, and emphasized that practices of torture and extra-judicial killing should not be tolerated.

In a media statement, the Security Council expressed its condolences to the families of those killed in the 13 May attack and to the Government and people of Libya.

According to reports, the car bomb killed a number of people, including children, and injured others.

The 15-member Council urged authorities to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of “these reprehensible acts of terrorism” and urged the international community to cooperate with Libyan authorities.

In the statement, the Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and that “any acts of terrorism are criminal unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.”

The Council reiterated the need to combat terrorism by all means, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and obligations under international law, in particular international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

Earlier, the UN Assistance Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) condemned the attack and reiterated its commitment to support the efforts of the Libyan Government and people to ensure the success of the democratic transition process, which has been under way since the toppling of Muammar al-Qadhafi two years ago.

The former leader ruled the North African country for more than 40 years until a pro-democracy uprising in 2011 – similar to the protests in other countries in the Middle East and North Africa – led to civil war and the end of his regime.

Four men are in custody and we are interrogating them because they are suspected of helping instigate the events at the US consulate,” Wanis Sharif Deputy Interior Minister told the Reuters news agency on Thursday.

Meanwhile, demonstrations against an anti-Islam film made in the US have spread to several countries across the Middle East.

Hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in the capital Sanaa, chanting “death to America”  removing the embassy’s sign on the outer wall. Clashes between police and demonstrators near the US embassy in Sanaa on Thursday killed 4 people and wounded another 34, a security official said, according to Al Jazeera.

At the same time, protesters clashed with police near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo for the third day in a row. Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. Sixteen protesters and 13 policemen were wounded in the clashes, which broke out overnight. Twelve protesters have been arrested, the Interior Ministry said. American flags were also burned in Tunisia, outside the US embassy in the capital of Tunisia.

US President Barack Obama has called the leaders of Egypt and Libya to discuss security co-operation following the violence in Cairo and Benghazi, the White House has said. Barack Obama, the US president, has vowed to bring to justice those responsible for the Benghazi attack. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington had nothing to do with the video.

Innocence of Muslims, the film that mocked Prophet Mohammad, was produced in the US by a filmmaker with ties to Coptic Christian groups, and excerpted on YouTube with dubbing in Arabic.

The report of the death of the ambassador and staff members follows the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, over a film by a U.S.- Jewish producer that ridicules and insults the Prophet Muhammad.

“I condemn these barbaric acts in the strongest possible terms. This is an attack on America, Libya and free people everywhere,”  Deputy Prime Minister of Libya Mustafa Abushagur said in a post on his Twitter.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton confirmed and condemned the deaths of the American personnel in Benghazi.

“The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind, ” she said in a statement.

According to Alyunaniya correspondent in Libya Rajab Benghuzzi: “Most Libyans here are against the attack at the US consulate which they believe was an act of provocation to create chaos in a time where Libya is struggling to overcome the turmoil following the ouster of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Hours before the attack at the U.S consulate in Benghazi hundreds of mainly protesters in Egypt marched to the U.S. Embassy in downtown Cairo, scaling its walls, and taking down the American flag from a pole in the courtyard.

The U.S. Embassy said on its Twitter account that there will be no visa services on Wednesday because of the protests. The U.S. Embassy in Libya also announced that the Consular Section will reopen on Monday, August 27.

According to Wall Street Journal The movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” was directed and produced by an Israeli-American developer who characterized it as a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam. It has been promoted by Terry Jones, the Florida pastor whose burning of Qurans previously sparked deadly riots worldwide.

A 13-minute trailer of the movie that sparked the protests, posted on the website YouTube in an original English version and another dubbed into Arabic, depicts Muhammad in an overtly ridiculing way, showing him having sex and calling for massacres.

Sam Bacile, an American citizen who said he produced, directed and wrote the two-hour film, said he had not anticipated such a furious reaction.  According to  AP Bacile said he is Jewish and familiar with the region. Bacile said the film was produced in English and he doesn’t know who dubbed it in Arabic.

The two-hour movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” cost $5 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors, said Bacile, who wrote and directed it, according to the Denver Post. Though Bacile was apologetic about the American who was killed as a result of the outrage over his film, he blamed lax embassy security.

Tuesday’s protests came on the eleventh anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when U.S. cities were targeted by hijacked planes for the incident.

Libya’s National Transitional Council, which has ruled the country since last year’s uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, on Wednesday handed power to the new assembly.

Megarief a former diplomat who had lived in exile since the 1980s and led the Libyan National Salvation Front, , won with 113 votes in the General National Congress against liberal independent Ali Zidane, who got 85.

Crowds in central Tripoli celebrated after the handover, which was the first peaceful transition of power in Libya’s modern history since Gaddafi’s 4 decade rule.

Magarief, will head the 200-member congress, which is tasked with will naming a prime minister and passing laws until full parliamentary elections can be held under a new constitution.

The assembly was also set to pick two deputies for Magarief, who had been seen as a leading contender for the top job.

The peaceful transition came as a car bomb exploded near the offices of the military police in Tripoli in the early hours Saturday, in the first such attack in the Libyan capital since the start of a revolt that toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Several violent incidents have rocked Libya in recent days Libya but these have been mostly confined to the eastern part of the country and included offices of military intelligence and the assassination of a former senior military officer, according to Reuters. 

In the new assembly, 80 seats are held by parties. A liberal coalition led by wartime rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril won 39 of those seats, while the Justice and Construction Party – the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood – won 17, according to Al Jazeera, while the remaining 120 seats are in the hands of independent candidates whose allegiances are hard to pin down.

Ashton said: “In the middle of the fighting in Libya I was in Benghazi meeting with a group of people from civil society and a young woman said to me: “We want what you’ve got. You have democracy and freedom every day, that’s what we want, but we need your help to get it because it’s more than just finishing this fighting.” And I coined the phrase “deep democracy” from that conversation which is about not just an election that can change things for now, but also about building the institutions that guarantee you the next election will take place. For me democracy is as much about throwing a government out as it is about electing a government and having independent judges – you need an administration that is not corrupt, you need police, you need the institutions that you and I live with every day but so many people do not.”

“Lisbon Treaty enables me”, Ashton said “to bring together for the first time the military commanders who are in charge of the boats that actually stop the pirates or pick them up; the people who work on making sure we can prosecute them and imprison them; the leadership of those countries most affected so they own the issues for themselves; support for the United Nations in trying to get security; the people working on development in Brussels who are able to support civil society via NGOs in the region. All of that brought together in one strategy and I say that for the Sahel region as I say it for the Horn of Africa.

Read full speech here.