Libya's General National Congress has approved a law criminalizing arbitrary arrests as well as torture and abduction, the justice minister said on Wednesday.

Saleh Marghani said the new law is considered as a step forward in the direction of protecting basic human rights and welcomed by rights activists.

The parliament's media office said under the law, it is a crime to torture prisoners, kidnapping people and hold them in illegal detention centers.

In the meantime, Marghani pointed out that Libya is plagued by armed militias that pose a serious threat to the country's stability, adding his ministry is not responsible for illegal groups who refuse to abide by the laws.

The minister called on all armed groups to hand over the control of their jails and other facilities to the government.