{"id":25832,"date":"2025-06-05T16:24:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T14:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lcw.ngo\/en\/?p=25832"},"modified":"2025-06-15T13:50:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T11:50:19","slug":"report-human-rights-violations-in-libya-during-may-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lcw.ngo\/en\/blog\/report-human-rights-violations-in-libya-during-may-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN LIBYA DURING MAY 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May witnessed an alarming escalation in serious human rights violations and international crimes committed by armed groups and security agencies against civilians in both eastern and western Libya. This occurred amid the continued absence of any meaningful steps toward accountability and justice, as well as the ongoing failure of authorities to fulfil their obligations to protect human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The field monitoring and documentation team documented the killing of twelve (12) civilians in Tripoli during the month of May, including four women, and the injury of at least fourteen (14) others, including one child. Additionally, two (2) healthcare facilities were targeted as a result of indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure during armed clashes that broke out in the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The field team also documented two (2) cases of extrajudicial killings, which claimed the lives of two civilians in the cities of Al-Bayda and Tripoli, as well as the injury of three (3) civilians by gunfire after participating in a protest in Tripoli. Arbitrary arrest of a Sudanese activist and poet was also documented in the cities of Tripoli and Sabha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, LCW field team monitored the discovery of thirty-six (36) bodies believed to belong to migrants, including women and children, who lost their lives along land and sea migration routes. These incidents included eighteen (18) bodies found in the desert areas near the cities of Kufra and Murzuq, and another eighteen (18) found along the shores of Misrata, Sorman, and Sabratha. These events underscore the ongoing grave violations against migrants and the failure of authorities to take adequate measures to safeguard their lives both on land and at sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) holds the following entities fully legally responsible for the violations documented during this month: the Police and Military Prisons Administration and the Tariq Ben Zeyad (TBZ) Brigade, both affiliated with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF); the Internal Security Agency (ISA) operating under the House of Representatives (HoR)-accredited government; and the security agencies and armed groups affiliated with the Ministries of Defence and Interior of the Government of National Unity (GNU), including the 444th Combat Brigade, the 111th Brigade, the Public Security and Security Positions Apparatus (PSSPA), Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM), as well as the Deterrence Agency for Countering Terrorism and Organised Crime (\u201cAl-Radaa\u201d) and the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), both of which fall under the authority of the Libyan Presidential Council. LCW also assigns responsibility to the Embassy of the Republic of Sudan in Tripoli, these entities are accountable for either perpetrating these violations, facilitating their occurrence, or failing to prevent them and prosecute those responsible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LCW affirms that the violations documented in this report may not fully capture the extent of all violations committed during the reporting period. They represent only those that the Field Monitoring and Documentation Team was able to document. The publication is restricted to violations whose disclosure does not pose a risk to the victims, survivors, or their families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DETAILS<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 2 <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between May 1 and 2, Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) monitored the discovery of sixteen (16) unidentified bodies, believed to be those of migrants, found along the seashore in the city of Misrata. The bodies were recovered by the Misrata branch of the Libyan Red Crescent and transported to the hospital for the completion of legal and forensic procedures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 5<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few days later, on May 5, one (1) additional unidentified body, also presumed to be that of a migrant, was found on the beach in the city of Sorman. The Sorman branch of the Libyan Red Crescent carried out the recovery and transported the body to Sorman General Hospital for the required legal procedures <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 8<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in the month, on May 8, LCW documented the death of Faisal Awad Ibshish (46 years old) at a hospital in Al-Bayda. His death followed a significant deterioration in his health, reportedly caused by medical neglect during his detention at Qarnada Military Prison, which is overseen by the Police and Military Prisons Administration affiliated with the LAAF. Faisal had been arbitrarily detained since 2018 without any judicial proceedings. His health worsened due to poor detention conditions and the lack of adequate medical care, ultimately leading to his hospitalisation, where he passed away one month after admission. His body was later returned to his family in the city of Derna by the prison administration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 10 <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 10,<\/strong> LCW documented the discovery of two (2) unidentified bodies, believed to be those of migrants, buried in a remote desert near Abu Zureiq on the outskirts of Kufra, north of the city of Kufra. The bodies were recovered by the Kufra branch of the Emergency and Ambulance Service and were reburied in designated graves following the completion of legal procedures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 12<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 12 and 14 May, LCW documented the killing of eleven (11) civilians, including four women, and the injury of at least ten (10) others, including one child, in the areas of Souq Al-Jumaa, Hay Al-Andalus, Janzour, Abu Salim, Ain Zara, and Central Tripoli. These casualties were the result of indiscriminate gunfire during armed clashes that took place in densely populated neighbourhoods of the capital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the same clashes, LCW also monitored the targeting of Tripoli Al-Jadida Clinic and Al-Jalaa Maternity and Women\u2019s Hospital by shelling, while patients and staff were present inside. Several members of armed groups involved in the fighting were also killed. To date, the Government of National Unity has refrained from releasing any official statistics on the human or material toll of these clashes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure occurred during armed confrontations in Tripoli that followed the killing of the head of the SSA, Abdelghani Al-Kikli (“Ghaniwa”). The fighting broke out among armed groups and security agencies, most notably the 444th Combat Brigade and the 111th Brigade, both affiliated with the Ministry of Defence under the Government of National Unity (GNU); the Public Security and Security Positions Apparatus (PSSPA), affiliated with the Ministry of Interior; as well as the Deterrence Agency for Countering Terrorism and Organised Crime (\u201cAl-Radaa\u201d) and the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), both operating under the Libyan Presidential Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 13<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 13 May, LCW documented the discovery of the body of Hossam Saleh Al-Tabouni (30 years old), who was killed under torture in an unofficial detention facility located in the Abu Salim area, east of Tripoli. The facility is reportedly operated by the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), which is affiliated with the Libyan Presidential Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His death came five days after he was subjected to enforced disappearance following his arbitrary arrest by individuals affiliated with the SSA near his workplace at the dialysis hospital on Shatt Road in Tripoli. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 14<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LCW documented the killing of Qarira Ramadan Al-Mazoughi (65 years old) and the injury of four (4) other detainees in Mitiga Prison, which is under the control of Al-Radaa, affiliated with the Libyan Presidential Council. The incident took place on 14 May, when a shell struck one of the prison wings during armed clashes in Tripoli. The fate of hundreds of other detainees remains unknown, and no official information has been released regarding the incident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on 14 May, LCW monitored the injury of at least three (3) civilians as a result of gunfire by armed personnel affiliated with the Ministry of Interior of the GNU. The shooting targeted demonstrators protesting against the GNU in the Abu Salim and Central Tripoli areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 17<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 17 May, LCW documented the arbitrary arrest of poet Al-Sanusi Mohamed Khamis Al-Hamri near his home in the city of Sebha by armed individuals affiliated with the 110th Battalion, which operates under the TBZ Brigade of the LAAF. His detentions appear to be linked to his public support for Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi. It is believed that he was transferred to the premises of the ISA in the city of Benghazi, affiliated with the Libyan government accredited by the HoR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the detention, Al-Hamri\u2019s home was raided and unlawfully searched by members of the TBZ. His mother was physically assaulted by the armed group, resulting in injuries that required hospitalisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 19<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LCW documented the arbitrary arrest of<\/strong> Sudanese asylum seeker and activist Mohammed <\/strong>Adam Arbab,<\/strong> known as (\u201cTupac\u201d), (24 years old), on 19 May by staff members at the Embassy of the Republic of Sudan in Tripoli. He was subjected to enforced detention for one day inside an office at the embassy premises before being unlawfully handed over to the Directorate for Combating Irregular Migration (DCIM), which operates under the Ministry of Interior of the GNU, in preparation for his deportation to Sudan. His current place of detention remains unknown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 22<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LCW monitored the discovery of eleven (11) bodies belonging to Sudanese migrants, including women and children, who had died from dehydration and starvation in a remote desert area near the city of Kufra. The group had been stranded for eleven days after their vehicles broke down along a migration route. The bodies were recovered by the Kufra branch of the Emergency and Ambulance Service and buried following legal procedures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 24<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, on 24 May, LCW documented the discovery of two (2) unidentified bodies, believed to be migrants, in a remote desert area near the town of Qatrun, north of Murzuq. The bodies were recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent \u2013 Murzuq branch \u2013 and transported to the hospital for the completion of legal procedures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on <\/strong>24 May,<\/strong> LCW documented the discovery of one (1) unidentified body on the seashore near the archaeological site in the city of Sabratha. The body was recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent \u2013 Sabratha branch \u2013 and transferred to Sabratha General Hospital for the completion of legal procedures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 30<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 30 May, LCW monitored the discovery of three (3) unidentified bodies, believed to be migrants, in a remote desert area near the town of Qatrun, north of Murzuq. The bodies were recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent \u2013 Murzuq branch \u2013 and transported to the hospital to complete the necessary legal procedures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDATIONS<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n