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ONE YEAR SINCE MP AL-DERISI’S DISAPPEARANCE: LCW SUBMITS URGENT APPEALS TO THE UN

On 16 May 2025, marking one full year since the enforced disappearance of MP Ibrahim Al-Derisi, and as part of its ongoing efforts in docum…
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MP Ibrahim Al-Derisi appears in detention conditions that violate human dignity – Source Social Media
MP Ibrahim Al-Derisi appears in detention conditions that violate human dignity – Source Social Media

On 16 May 2025, marking one full year since the enforced disappearance of MP Ibrahim Al-Derisi, and as part of its ongoing efforts in documentation and international advocacy, Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) submitted three urgent appeals to various United Nations Special Procedures concerning the enforced disappearance and the inhuman and degrading treatment he has been subjected to. 

The appeals were submitted to the following mandates: 

  • The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) 
  • The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 
  • The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) 

In its communications, LCW called on these mechanisms to intervene urgently and to press the authorities in eastern Libya to disclose the fate and whereabouts of Mr Al-Derisi, to ensure his physical and psychological integrity, and to secure his immediate and unconditional release. LCW also urged the mechanisms to call for concrete steps to ensure accountability and non-repetition of such violations. 

This action came in response to the circulation of shocking videos on 5 May 2025, showing Mr Al-Deirsi in detention under conditions that violate human dignity. He appeared chained by the neck, stripped of clothing, visibly injured, and pleading for mercy from Saddam Haftar, Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), imploring him for release. 

Information obtained by LCW’s Field team indicates that MP Al-Derisi was seen at an unofficial detention facility controlled by armed groups affiliated with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) to which he had been taken following his arbitrary arrest on 16 May 2024 in Benghazi. His fate and whereabouts remain unknown to this day.  

In parallel with this international engagement, on 5 May, LCW has called in a public publication on the Libyan Attorney General to launch an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances of Mr Al-Derisi’s arrest, enforced disappearance, and ill-treatment, and to ensure that all those responsible are held to account.