INTRODUCTION
During September 2025, grave violations against civilians in Libya continued to be committed by security agencies and armed groups affiliated with the authorities in both the east and west of the country. These included arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment, and attacks on populated areas, amid the absence of any serious or effective measures towards investigation and accountability.
The LCW field team documented during September the arbitrary arrest of three (3) civilians in the cities of Benghazi, Misrata, and Al-Jumayl, including an academic and an activist on social media platforms. The field team also documented the killing of one (1) child and the injury of six (6) other children in separate incidents in the cities of Al-Zawiya and Tripoli, as a result of shells falling in residential areas and the explosion of remnants of war.
The LCW field team also documented the killing of one (1) Egyptian migrant after being shot in the city of Imsaad, and recorded the recovery of twenty-nine (29) bodies believed to belong to migrants, including Sudanese nationals and a Yemeni, on the seashores of Tobruk, Tripoli, and Al-Zawiya, following repeated shipwrecks of migration boats. This is in addition to the rescue of one (1) migrant who later died due to complications from drowning. The team also recorded the discovery of five (5) unidentified bodies in a desert area in the city of Tobruk.
Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) holds full legal responsibility for the violations documented during this month with each of the following entities: the Internal Security Agency (ISA) affiliated with the Libyan government accredited by the House of Representatives (HoR), the 103rd Battalion affiliated with the Ministry of Defence of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the Criminal Investigation Agency in Misrata affiliated with the Ministry of Interior of the GNU, the Military Police Unit in Tobruk affiliated with the General Command of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), the Anti-Security Threat Agency affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office of the GNU, as well as the “Cabbo Militia,” as the entities directly or indirectly responsible for committing these violations or failing to prevent them and hold those responsible to account.
LCW affirms that what is contained in this report does not reflect all violations committed during the month but is limited to the cases that the LCW field team was able to verify and document, after obtaining the informed consent of the victims or their families, while observing confidentiality, privacy, and assessing any potential risks.
DETAILS
September 4
Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) documented, on 4 September, the killing of Salah Abdullah Al-Mahfoudhi, an Egyptian migrant, after he was shot in the city of Imsaad, in far eastern Libya on the border with Egypt, by armed men affiliated with the Military Police Unit in Tobruk, which is under the General Command of the LAAF. The killing took place during a campaign of arrests carried out by the unit targeting migrants and foreign workers in the city.
Following his death, the victim’s body was transferred to Tobruk Medical Centre and was later repatriated to Egypt and handed over to his family. A video circulated on social media platforms documented the victim collapsing to the ground after being shot and being kicked and beaten by an armed man, before being taken into a vehicle bearing the logo of the Police and Military Prisons Administration.
September 8
On 8 September, Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) documented the arbitrary arrest of Dr Khaled Mohammed Al-Maghrabi (56 years old), a Professor of Political Science at the University of Benghazi, by the ISA, affiliated with the Libyan government endorsed by the HoR.
The arrest took place following his appearance on a television programme broadcast by Al-Arabiya Al Hadath channel on 7 September, where he discussed a statement attributed to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. He was taken to an unofficial detention facility located inside the premises of the ISA in the Sidi Hussein area of Benghazi. Contact with him was lost before he was released on 10 September, two days after his arbitrary arrest.
September 12
Between 7 and 12 September, LCW recorded the discovery of three (3) unidentified bodies on the seashore in the Al-Mutrad area of Al-Zawiya. The bodies are believed to belong to migrants and were recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent – Al-Zawiya branch, which transferred them to the hospital to complete the required legal procedures.
September 13
On 13 September, LCW recorded the discovery of one (1) unidentified body on the seashore in the Gargaresh area of Hay Al-Andalus, west of Tripoli. The body is believed to belong to a migrant and was recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent – Tripoli branch, in cooperation with the Ghout Al-Shaal Police Station and the Tripoli Ambulance and Emergency Service. The body was then transferred to the hospital to complete the required legal procedures.
September 20
Between 13 and 20 September, LCW recorded the discovery of twenty (20) bodies belonging to migrants, including Sudanese nationals, on the seashore in the Kambut area, east of Tobruk, following the sinking of a migration boat that had been carrying seventy-four migrants en route to Europe. The bodies were recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent – Tobruk branch and transferred to the Tobruk Medical Centre to complete the required legal procedures.
During the same period, one (1) migrant who had been on the same boat was rescued but later died at Tobruk Medical Centre as a result of complications from drowning.
Also, on 20 September, LCW recorded the discovery of one (1) body on the seashore in the Tajoura area, east of Tripoli. The body is believed to belong to a migrant and was recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent – Tripoli branch, which transferred it to the hospital to complete the required legal procedures.
September 22
On 22 September, LCW documented the arbitrary arrest of Mohammed Al-Maawi Al-Naili (24 years old) near his home in the city of Al-Jumayl, by armed men affiliated with the 103rd Battalion under the Ministry of Defence of the GNU, after being chased by two military vehicles. He was taken to a detention site located on a farm belonging to the battalion before being transferred to the battalion’s headquarters in the city of Al-Zawiya, where he remains forcibly disappeared to date.
On the same date, 22 September, LCW also documented the arbitrary arrest of social media activist Faraj Muftah Mohammed Mheisen (37 years old) along with his 8-year-old son in the city of Misrata, by armed men affiliated with the Criminal Investigation Agency in Misrata, after weapons were pointed at them. They were taken to the agency’s headquarters in the city, where the son was later handed over to his family. The arrest of Mheisen followed his public criticism of the Joint Operations Force, which is affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office of the GNU. He was interrogated at the agency’s headquarters and subjected to torture and ill-treatment before being referred to the Public Prosecution Office, which ordered his release after four days of arbitrary detention.
Also, on 22 September, LCW recorded the discovery of one (1) body belonging to a Yemeni migrant on the seashore near the Wadi Amrira area in Tobruk, following the sinking of a migrant boat carrying twenty-five (25) migrants, of whom twenty-four were rescued. The body was recovered by the Tobruk branch of the General Directorate for Coastal Security and transferred to the Tobruk Medical Centre to complete the required legal procedures.
September 23
On 23 September, LCW recorded the discovery of five (5) unidentified bodies, believed to belong to migrants, in a desert area within the Great Sand Sea region of Tobruk. The bodies were recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent – Tobruk branch and transferred to the hospital to complete the required legal procedures.
September 24
On 24 September, LCW documented the injury of one (1) child who sustained wounds to his leg after a mortar shell fell on his home in the Al-Harsha area of Al-Zawiya, during armed clashes near the Al-Zawiya oil refinery between the Anti-Security Threats Agency, which is affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office of the GNU, and the “Cabbo Militia.” The child was subsequently transferred to the hospital to receive the necessary medical treatment.
September 27
On 27 September, LCW documented the death of the child Anas Salem Mohammed Al-Mukhtar (10 years old) at the hospital from his wounds, after he and his two (2) siblings were injured by shrapnel from a shell that struck their home in the Al-Harsha area of Al-Zawiya on 22 September, during armed clashes in the city between the Anti- Security Threats Agency, affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office of the GNU, and the “Cabbo Militia.”
On the same date, 27 September, LCW recorded the injury of three (3) children inside a farm in the Khallet Al-Furjan area of Ain Zara, south of Tripoli, as a result of the explosion of remnants of war, which caused them injuries that required hospital treatment.
September 29
On 29 September, LCW recorded the discovery of one (1) unidentified body on the seashore in the Al-Mutrad area, west of Al-Zawiya. The body is believed to belong to a migrant and was recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent – Al-Zawiya branch, which transferred it to the hospital to complete the required legal procedures.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) calls on the authorities in both eastern and western Libya to take all necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of armed clashes and indiscriminate attacks within populated areas, and to mitigate the risks posed by remnants of war. LCW also urges the Libyan Attorney General to open independent and transparent investigations into the indiscriminate attacks on populated areas and civilian facilities, which have endangered the lives of civilians, to disclose the outcomes of these investigations, and to ensure accountability of those responsible in accordance with international standards of fair trial.
- LCW calls on the authorities in both eastern and western Libya to respect the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under international human rights law (IHRL), including the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to peaceful assembly. LCW also urges the authorities to immediately cease the practice of arbitrary arrest and the systematic targeting of activists and peaceful dissenters, as these practices constitute a grave violation of fundamental rights, entrench a climate of fear, and exacerbate the culture of impunity.
- LCW calls on the Libyan Attorney General to open independent and transparent investigations into all serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial and unlawful killings, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, abduction, and torture in both official and unofficial detention facilities. LCW further urges the Attorney General to ensure that those responsible are held accountable in accordance with international standards of fair trial and due process.
- LCW reiterates its call on the Libyan authorities to fulfil their obligations to protect the lives of migrants along migration routes across the desert and the sea, and to cooperate with relevant international organisations to establish effective search and rescue mechanisms, determine the fate of the missing, and ensure the identification of human remains. LCW also calls for an independent and transparent investigation into shipwreck incidents and human trafficking-related violations, and for those responsible to be held accountable in line with international standards of justice and accountability.
- LCW appeals to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reconsider its decision to suspend investigations in Libya by the end of 2025, given the potential consequences of entrenching a culture of impunity in the context of the absence of political will, capacity, and effectiveness within national justice mechanisms, which have failed to fulfil their obligations, and to uphold the complementarity principle enshrined in the Rome Statute.
- LCW reiterates its call on the Human Rights Council (HRC) and its Member States to establish an independent, standing international investigative mechanism for Libya, as an alternative to any future fact-finding mission, to investigate grave human rights violations, identify those responsible, and support accountability processes and efforts to end impunity.
- LCW calls on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and relevant States to intensify pressure on all parties to respect human rights, actively pursue transitional justice, establish the truth, provide redress to victims, and end the culture of impunity that fuels the continuation of violations.
