Who We Are

From within prison walls, where freedoms are stripped, and voices are silenced, a spark of hope was ignited. Amid the shadows of injustice and iron gates, the voices of prisoners of conscience and victims of torture rose, carrying with them harrowing stories of countless violations. These individuals paid a heavy price for their beliefs and resolved to ensure that their voices—and the voices of all victims—would be heard by the world. 

After escaping the grip of oppression, the founders found refuge in Tunisia. There, in collaboration with international and local human rights organizations, they embarked on a long and arduous journey to document violations and expose the truth about their perpetrators. 

In 2017, amidst challenging circumstances, the idea to establish the “Libya Crimes Watch” was born. By 2019, this idea became a reality as the organization began its official work from the United Kingdom. We chose this name to reflect the noble mission of the organization: to observe, monitor, and document all forms of violations committed against civilians in Libya, with the ultimate goal of holding perpetrators accountable. 

Since its founding, LCW has operated with professionalism and objectivity, aligning itself with the broader human rights movement in Libya. It focuses its work on victims and builds its team with survivors. In a short time, it has proven its credibility and become a trusted reference. Despite limited resources, LCW has continued its relentless efforts, earning the trust of all.

At LCW, our work primarily revolves around comprehensive monitoring and documentation. We gather information through our field monitoring and documentation team, which specializes in monitoring, documenting, and tracking human rights violations and international crimes. Our team comprises experts in monitoring and documenting violations, with diverse professional, gender, sexual, religious and ethnic backgrounds, working in fields such as law, journalism, and civil society activism. They operate across all regions of Libya, including hard-to-reach areas, as well as relevant countries abroad. 

Our principles 

Our monitoring and documentation team has a deep understanding of Libyan and international contexts and continuously keeps track of developments. The team consults experts across various fields, including legal, security, political, social, and psychological disciplines. They conduct risk analyses at every stage of their work to identify threats to victims, survivors, witnesses, team members, partners, and collaborators, including threats to physical, psychological, and digital safety. 

The team is committed to obtaining informed and renewed consent from victims, survivors, witnesses, and collaborators—ensuring they are fully aware of the risks and purposes of each action taken. They adhere to principles of objectivity, aligning exclusively with victims and survivors, treating them equally, and maintaining their privacy and confidentiality. The team integrates an intersectional perspective throughout all stages of its work. 

Our Tools 

To access and verify information, the monitoring and documentation team collects initial signs of violations through field sources, LCW’s reporting channels, and available open-source information. Team members then organize preliminary data, establish contact with victims, survivors, or witnesses, and assess the validity of their accounts. Verification is conducted using multiple sources, including official documents, testimonies from other victims and witnesses, local collaborators, and open-source analysis. 

The team creates detailed documentation files based on verified testimonies and information, categorizing and archiving them securely. Data is analyzed by gender, age group, geographic location, type of violation, and victim needs, and stored in a secured and central database. 

Our Scope 

At LCW, we dedicate our efforts to violations and international crimes against civilians. Our work highlights critical issues such as extrajudicial killings, civilian harm caused by armed conflict, torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and enforced disappearances. We also focus on violations linked to human trafficking and smuggling, as well as abuses targeting civil society and vulnerable groups, including women, LGBTQIA+, religious and ethnic minorities. In addition, we pay close attention to violations perpetrated by parties involved in the armed conflict and other influential forces in Libya.