HRW Reports 31 Executions by Eastern Libya Forces After Unfair Trials
Reporting based primarily on newarab.com.
HRW Reports First Libyan Executions Since 2010
Human Rights Watch reported that forces under Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya executed at least 31 people between late August and September 10, 2026, following unfair military trials. [1] This marked the first executions in the country since 2010, with 50 more at imminent risk. [1] The group described the proceedings as grossly unfair military trials. [1]
Details of the Military Trials and Prison Conditions
The executions followed grossly unfair military trials that Libya's Supreme Court has ruled should not try civilians, with confessions allegedly extracted through torture. [1] Haftar's forces are putting people to death after secret trials built on confessions allegedly extracted through torture, in courts that Libya's own Supreme Court has said should not be trying civilians. [1] The detainees were held in a prison about 100 km east of Benghazi under military control and outside judicial jurisdiction, a facility frequently accused of human rights violations. [1] It is largely under military control and outside the jurisdiction of the judicial authorities, and is frequently accused of human rights violations, torture and ill-treatment. [1]
Context of Libya's Post-Gaddafi Division
Libya has been divided between Haftar's forces in the east and a UN-recognized government in the west since the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. [1] Libya has struggled to regain stability since former ruler Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in 2011, and the country remains divided between the Haftars in the east and a UN-recognised government in the west. [1]
HRW Calls for International Pressure
HRW's Bassam Khawaja called on the international community to pressure Haftar's forces and their backers to halt future executions. [1] He called on the international community to pressure the military authorities to halt any future executions. [1] Khawaja said the country had gone more than 15 years without an execution, but the eastern authorities shattered that moratorium in a matter of weeks. [1] The lives of at least 50 more people now depend on whether Haftar's forces, and the governments that back them, choose to stop this. [1]
Legal Status of the Death Penalty in Libya
The death penalty remains in force in Libya for murder, terrorism and offences against state security, but no executions had been carried out for more than 15 years until this recent surge. [1] The death penalty is still in force in Libya for the crimes of murder, terrorism and offences against state security, though in recent years sentences have not been carried out. [1]
What to watch next: The lives of at least 50 more people now depend on whether Haftar's forces, and the governments that back them, choose to stop this. [1] Similar enforcement actions have been reported in other contexts. [2] [3]
