(Tripoli, June 27, 2012) -- The sixteenth anniversary of the Abu Salim prison massacre on June 28 to 29, 2012, offers victims' families across Libya the first chance to commemorate the 1996 tragedy without fear of government repression, Human Rights Watch said today.

The government should establish a justice system that can and will prosecute and fairly try individuals responsible for the egregious crime, in which more than 1,200 prisoners were shot and killed, Human Rights Watch said. The bodies of the victims have yet to be found.

"Sixteen years after the mass killing in Abu Salim prison, Libyans can finally hope for justice," said Fred Abrahams, special advisor at Human Rights Watch. "This means finding the bodies and identifying and punishing the people responsible for the crime."

A number of guards and senior Gaddafi-era officials have been detained and are under investigation by the military prosecutor for the 1996 prison massacre. They should be given full due process rights guaranteed in Libya law and granted fair trials, Human Rights Watch said.