Justice Denied: Torture and Arbitrary Detention in Libya

Author: Zeinab Abulhul, PhD

May 8, 2025

Warning: The following article contains sensitive and graphic content and images.

Images from inside Qarnada prison [Image source: alkarama.org]

Introduction

Libya is in chaos due to a long civil war. There is no strong central government capable of enforcing the law or protecting the rights of the people. Following the fall of Gaddafi, temporary groups assumed control, but they did not allow ordinary Libyans to participate in rebuilding the country.

Many ordinary Libyans who supported the revolution felt disappointed by the current state of affairs. They did not wish to see a return to Gaddafi’s kind of rule, and they aimed for a civil state that recognized all levels of Libyan society, so they spoke up and expressed their concerns in the hope of rectifying the situation peacefully. However, those in power did not accept this freedom. Instead, they responded by arresting and imprisoning individuals who dared to speak their minds. This article will explore how the Libyan civil war has led to the torture of prisoners in detention centers, unveiled by a recent video of the horrific treatment of those who speak out against the current circumstances. This article will also examine the impact of this footage on human rights organizations worldwide.

Background

The Libyan civil war began when Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's former president, was overthrown from power in October 2011, and it brought anarchy and a state of lawlessness to Libya (Al Arabiya News, 2025). Libya had its first nationwide democratic election in July 2012, establishing the General National Congress (GNC). Democracy was new to the Libyans, as was its application. Having neither a state constitution nor strong institutions to integrate citizens into politics, the election bred underlying political tensions. Extremely well-armed militias quickly sprang up, the majority supported by foreign states keen on Libya's wealth and resources. That resulted in the state government being divided into two parts: General Khalifa Haftar, who governs the eastern region and holds no membership in any political party. His leadership retains immense political power through his leadership of the Libyan National Army (LNA). Placed in the long term in the east, where he is being supported by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, and Russia to further their interest in Libya, while Turkey, Qatar, and Italy back the GNC and other Western militias (Center for Preventive Action, 2024: ADF, 2024).

Both Libyan governments, in the eastern and western parts of the country, have cracked down on non-governmental organizations, limiting their freedom to form associations. Militias and other armed groups supporting each faction compete for control over the state. Their method of governance involves silencing those who oppose them and repressing dissent by arbitrarily arresting and detaining critics in detention centers (Human Rights Watch, 2024). Thousands of Libyans from all sectors of Libyan society have been arrested, including children, women, the elderly, and adult men. These thousands of individuals are human rights defenders, political activists, and civil society representatives.(Human Rights Watch, 2024).

There is no precise number of prisons in Libya; however, in 2017, an estimated 6,500 people were held in 26 prisons under the judicial police’s control. This does not account for facilities under the Ministries of Interior and Defense, where armed groups operated. In Migita Airbase, an estimated 2,600 detainees were held, and in Kuweifiya Prison in Benghazi, 1,800 detainees were held, as well as seven other prisons and 13 facilities run by armed groups. These groups operate with impunity, and victims have little to no recourse to judicial remedy or reparations (UNHR, 2018; UNHR, Libya, 2018).

According to a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report, torture leading to death, ill-treatment, and sexual harassment against both men and women are systematically practiced in most Libyan detention centers (Human Rights Solidarity, 2017). The United Nations Support Mission in Libya  (UNSMIL) has reported approximately 27 prison deaths since late 2011, indicating that torture was likely the cause (BBC News, 2013).

Furthermore, the state's circumstances allow armed groups to target prominent women leaders due to inadequate legal penalties and a lack of accountability for these crimes. This includes the enforced disappearance of parliament members, such as Sihem Sergiwa and Hannan Barassi, a prominent Libyan lawyer and women’s rights activist, in 2020 in eastern Libya. Despite calls from human rights organizations to investigate the disappearances of these women, the authorities continue to delay the process (UN, 2023).

Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International’s researcher in Libya, managed to obtain a permit from the Ministry for Justice to access the detention facilities and thus got the opportunity to interview detainees who were recently transferred from a militia-run prison. They shared their experiences of torture and inhumane treatment during their detention, with 11 instances indicating that detainees suffered fatal torture in 2013, along with 16 additional cases from 2011 and 2012. The detainees were forced to stand with their backs against the wall. They received only short toilet breaks, and they were forced to do push-ups or roll over; were kicked and beaten across their bodies using metal rods, cables, or hoses; or were suspended by the hands for 24 hours. Two of the detainees said that they were forced to swallow their vomit after they vomited from physical exhaustion (Mughrabi, 2013). One of the detainees, who was 68 years old, was left suspended upside down from a tree for about 40 minutes while a guard flogged him on the abdomen with a wooden pole. This was his penalty after being arrested by an SSC-controlled militia group – a coalition of force groups under the Ministry of Interior. He was then forced to crawl on his knees while guards continued to punch him with rifle butts until he passed out (Mughrabi, 2013).

Torture and ill-treatment are systematically practiced in detention centers throughout Libya [Video source (graphic content warning): YouTube]

A 2017 report documented serious human rights abuses against 3,600 detainees, including women and children, in Maitika Prison, 8 kilometers east of Tripoli. The facility was run by the Special Deterrence Forces, a militia aligned with the Government of National Accord. That year, at least 37 bodies bearing signs of torture were sent to hospitals in Tripoli. One of the victims was a man in his fifties who had, in June 2017, reportedly been summoned for questioning by an armed group operating under the Ministry of Interior. His family was notified of his death four days later. A forensic report obtained by Human Rights Defenders, a small activist consortium, showed that he was beaten and tortured before he died (Human Rights Solidarity, 2017; UNHR, 2018).

Another prison, Granada Prison, located in eastern Libya, is infamous for torturing prisoners no less than Maitika Prison. It has been run by General Khalifah Haftar’s special forces since 2015. General Haftar supports the country's eastern administration, which rivals the UN-recognized government in the capital (Rédaction Africanews, 2011). They practice a crackdown policy against dissenters, transferring victims to the internal security agency, where no one can access them.

In 2023, the Libyan Crimes Watch (LCW) called the International Criminal Court (ICC) for help to stop the violation of human rights at Granada Prison and conduct an investigation against those who are responsible for torture and abuse of detainees in the prison (Alharathy, 2025:LFJL,2023). The call was accompanied by several leaked videos showing horrific scenes of dissenters being brutally beaten and kicked by persons wearing military uniforms and of pressed prisoners sitting with hands tied and naked in difficult positions for a long time. One leaked video showed the location where torture detainees were kept on the lower floor of the Granada Prison, which is affiliated with the prisons' police administration and military prisons (Monia Ghanmi, al-Arabiya, 2025; OMCT.org, 2020).  Another showed a prisoner wearing only underwear being whipped in a corridor. Another man in his 60s was beaten until he fell on the ground, and another was begging for mercy with visible bandages, which likely meant he suffered a fractured hand (NOVA.news, 2025; Human Rights Watch, 2024). Interestingly, Tripoli and the eastern authorities have not responded to the allegations or the recent footage (Rédaction Africanews, 2011). The officials' silence only adds to the significance of the evidence. For most, their silence carries as much weight as the video itself.

Leaked video footage exposes harrowing scenes of torture perpetrated within Qarnada Prison [Image/video source: Instagram]

Human Rights Impact and Response

The violation of human rights occurs in most Libyan prisons against those who have different political opinions from those in power. Thousands of people have been arbitrarily arrested and face abuse and degrading treatment during the investigation and while detained in the detention centers.  Many detainees in the Al-Kweifiyah and Granada prisons in Benghazi reported that they were tortured by authorities, including members of the Libyan army’s Special Forces Unit 21. They witnessed the death of some detainees in custody, such as Rami Kamal al-Fitori and Saad Bin Hmeid at Bersis Prison in eastern Libya, after being tortured (Human Rights Watch, 2015).  Inhuman treatment and torture are against international human rights laws. Systemic abuse includes beatings with electric shocks and prolonged deprivation of sleep and necessities.

[Image source: agenzianova.com]

Furthermore, those prisoners were deprived of their right to a fair trial. In these prisons, many detainees are kept waiting for their trials for extended periods. For instance, prisoners accused of being part of the Islamic State group have spent years in jail awaiting trial, during which they faced abuse and inhumane treatment (Human Rights Watch, 2015).

Global human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have also reported extensively on these abuses. Amnesty International reported that there were undisclosed custodial deaths for which no questions were raised. Some women and old men in 2024 were arbitrarily arrested and taken to ASI-controlled facilities, to which their families and lawyers did not have access (NOVA.news, 2025). Amnesty International has also collected statements from family members of detainees that revealed the relatives were intimidated and threatened not to report cases of abuse, calling on Libyan National Army (LNA) commanders who had been accused of war crimes and conducting illicit interrogations with no protections for human rights to be suspended.

Human Rights Watch asserts that detainees underwent systematic ill-treatment and suffered through harsh forms of torture, including beatings, electric shocks, and prolonged deprivation of sleep, water, and food (NOVA.news, 2025). Human Rights Watch representatives had limited access to detention centers in Al-Bayda and Benghazi, which the Libyan Army and Ministries of Justice and Interior manage, and have reported that detainees, including minors, undergo torture, are kept in poor conditions, and receive ill-treatment. They were able to interview 73 prisoners when the guards were absent, and the detainees disclosed the extent of the abuse and torture they faced, including inadequate due process. They claimed they were denied healthcare, prevented from family visits, not informed of their detention, and enduring poor conditions. Additionally, 31 detainees revealed that they were forced to confess to serious crimes. The authorities also taped four prisoners and broadcast their false confessions to the Benghazi killings and at Bersis Prison (Human Rights Watch, 2015). Human Rights Watch urged the authorities to release all detainees who do not have credible evidence of crime, except for those who were forced to confess under torture or duress, not because they should remain imprisoned. Instead, their cases need special attention because they were forced under torture to admit to crimes that they did not commit, and as such, their cases must be reviewed adequately with full respect for due process and justice (Human Rights Watch, 2015).

Yet another video posted on social media in 2025 caused widespread horror, showing detained foreign and Libyan nationals being severely beaten and subjected to horrific mistreatment while held in painful positions by uniformed guards at the Grenada detention in eastern Libya (Reuters, 2025). The footage depicts numerous detainees and aligns with reported trends of human rights violations in detention centers throughout Libya (Alhabib Al'aswad, 2025).

The UNSMIL condemned these actions and called for an immediate investigation and accountability. It emphasized the role of international human rights law in ensuring Libya's adherence to international human rights standards (Kaur, 2025). Furthermore, UNSMIL is coordinating with the Libyan National Army to facilitate unrestricted access to the Grenada facilities and detention centers to investigate the allegations (Al Arabiya News, 2025; Human Rights Watch, 2024).

Conclusion

The Libyan prison crisis is a shocking human rights infringement resulting from the civil war, which had placed the country in a state of chaos after the deposition of Gaddafi. Libya’s people once envisioned bringing all into the political fold under a new nation. However, other foreign countries that are keen on Libya's wealth have funded people and entities that are responsible for wielding power, disregarding the violations of the rights of Libyan civilians. Not only do these entities kidnap civilians, but they also torture and forcibly disappear them without practicing legal investigation or due process.

As a human rights advocacy organization, we call the world to action—act, liberate unarmed detainees, and reunite them with their loved ones.

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Glossary

• Arbitrary arrest and detention: The arrest and detention of an individual in a case where there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute.

• Civil State: The union of individual men in civil society functions under a system of laws, with a magistrate or magistrates charged with administering these laws

• Civil War:  A war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country.

• Constitution: The basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in it.

• Custodial Deaths: The death of a person occurring during custody,  whether in police, private, or medical premises.

• Democratic election: An election is a process in which people vote to choose a person or group to hold an official position.

• Detainee: A person held in custody, especially for political reasons.

• Dissent: political opposition to a government or its policies

• Due process: A course of legal proceedings according to rules and principles established in a system of jurisprudence for enforcing and protecting private rights.

• Footage: film or videotape that shows a single event or place.

• Forensic report: A report prepared during an investigation into an alleged offence by a person with specialised knowledge or training, setting out the results of a forensic examination in the form of facts or opinions or a combination of both, e.g., an autopsy report.

• Gaddafi: born 1942, near Sirte, Libya—died October 20, 2011, Sirte) was the de facto leader of Libya (1969–2011).

• Impunity: Exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action.

• Infringement: Breaking the terms of a law, agreement, etc.; violation.

• Justice Denied: When a legal remedy is not promptly provided, it is equivalent to no justice.

• Libya:  Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north and Egypt to the east.

• Militias: The government called out the militia to help cope with the rioting.

• Torture:  The infliction of severe pain (such as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish or coerce.

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Sources

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