At Least 50 Men in Eastern Libya Face Imminent Execution, Rights Groups Warn

Forces controlling eastern Libya have executed at least 31 people since late August, Human Rights Watch said on October 14, warning that at least 50 more prisoners face imminent execution. ^[1]

The rights group said the executions followed grossly unfair military trials. Those now at risk are held at Gernada military prison, under forces of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, or LAAF, led by General Khalifa Haftar. The executions would be Libya's first known since 2010. ^[1]

The warning follows an urgent appeal on October 13 by Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, Libya Crimes Watch and the World Organisation Against Torture. Their joint letter reported at least 30 executions, including of civilians, and identified the same imminent danger to at least 50 men. ^[2]

The executions have proceeded despite a November 2025 ruling by Libya's Supreme Court that struck down the legal provision allowing military courts to try civilians for terrorism-related and state-security offences. The coalition said military proceedings continued. ^{[1] [2]}

Amnesty documented at least two people being executed after a higher military court reduced their death sentences to life imprisonment, according to the joint letter. The groups said the stated legal basis for those executions was unclear. ^[2]

Executions after years of secret trials

On August 23, the LAAF military prosecutor announced that 10 people had been executed by firing squad following convictions for murder and terrorism-related offences. Human rights groups had documented at least 31 executions by September 10, according to Human Rights Watch. ^{[1] [2]}

The cases reach back to the fighting that helped establish the LAAF's control. Human Rights Watch said many of those executed had been arrested in Derna and Benghazi during or after battles between the LAAF and opposing armed groups from 2014 to 2018. ^[1]

Eastern military courts subsequently convicted hundreds of civilians in secret trials between 2018 and 2021, sentencing at least 22 to death, the group said. Citing Amnesty's findings, Human Rights Watch said many of those earlier death sentences rested on confessions allegedly obtained through torture by the LAAF-affiliated Internal Security Agency. ^[1]

The new executions turn that history of disputed prosecutions into an immediate threat to prisoners still in custody. The coalition said Libya Crimes Watch had information indicating that at least 90 people had received death sentences after military trials in eastern Libya. ^[2]

That figure remains under verification.

Barriers at every stage of a death sentence

The rights groups describe barriers at nearly every stage at which a prisoner could contest a death sentence: finding a lawyer, preparing a defence, obtaining the court's reasons and bringing an effective appeal. ^{[1] [2]}

Human Rights Watch said trials took place in secret, without prior notice. Families and independent observers were excluded. Some defendants could not consult privately with their lawyers, and defendants or their lawyers were denied written judgments explaining the decisions. ^[1]

Without those reasons, a lawyer cannot properly examine how a court assessed the evidence or applied the law. The coalition said the cases it examined involved restrictions on meaningful appeals, alongside the lack of access to lawyers and secret proceedings. Amnesty also documented torture or other ill-treatment and prolonged detention without contact with the outside world in some cases. ^[2]

The Supreme Court ruling should have removed a central legal foundation for these prosecutions of civilians.

Yet the reported executions of prisoners whose sentences had already been reduced expose a further danger. In those cases, the failure described by the rights groups came after an appeal had produced a lesser sentence. ^[2]

Families, too, have been denied opportunities to intervene or even say goodbye. The coalition said relatives did not receive timely advance notice of executions. Human Rights Watch said authorities withheld bodies, required relatives to identify the dead, buried them without family members present and warned families against holding funerals. ^{[1] [2]}

Pressure to stop the next executions

Libya remains divided between the internationally recognized Government of National Unity in Tripoli, which controls the west, and the LAAF and affiliated forces in the east and south. Human Rights Watch describes both sides as operating with near-total impunity. ^[1]

The UN and the Tripoli-based government have condemned the executions, according to Human Rights Watch. The UN Support Mission in Libya, known as UNSMIL, called on September 16 for a suspension and a credible review of the cases. The coalition said the mission regretted that executions had continued despite its engagement with the relevant authorities. ^{[1] [2]}

Human Rights Watch urged the LAAF to halt executions and called on governments with influence over it to press for a stop. The four organisations' joint letter likewise sought urgent diplomatic action. ^{[1] [2]}

The immediate task also includes establishing where the threatened prisoners are. Libya Crimes Watch received information that some were moved from Gernada to other locations on September 11, the coalition said. Their exact whereabouts were not established in its letter. ^[2]

For the men still under death sentence, the next meaningful steps are the suspension UNSMIL has requested, a credible review of their cases and verification of their locations. The rights groups' warning is that at least 50 may be executed before that happens. ^{[1] [2]}