Articles for Libya

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has adopted Opinion No. 76/2025, finding that the deprivation of liberty of Hassan Elfargani Salem, a member of Libya's House of Representatives, and his brother Mohamed Elfargani Salem was arbitrary under international law. 

Alkarama is closely monitoring with grave concern the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Egyptian national Mahmoud Mohamed Fathi Badr, who was apprehended by the Libyan authorities together with his wife on the evening of 19 July 2026 at their place of residence, Al Tawfiq Hotel, in the Al Dhahra district of Tripoli. Alkarama warns the Libyan authorities against any surrender of Mr Fathi to Egypt and recalls the binding obligations incumbent upon them under international law. 

Facts 

The Syrian government has received five of its nationals who had been arbitrarily detained by the authorities in Benghazi affiliated to retired Marshal Khalifa Haftar, after their arrest for celebrating the fall of the former regime in their country and the announcement of the “liberation” of the capital Damascus in December 2024. 

Alkarama has learned from its sources that several militias affiliated with General Khalifa Haftar are holding Syrian nationals hostage and conditioning their release on official recognition by the new Syrian government. This situation concerns in particular five young men whose cases had already been submitted by Alkarama to the relevant United Nations special procedures. 

In a follow-up report addressed to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), Alkarama denounced the persistent inaction of Libya and Saudi Arabia regarding the implementation of opinions issued between 2023 and 2025 concerning several cases of arbitrary detention. 

In pursuit of a better life, Youssef Al Arfi, a young Syrian national, went missing in conflict-torn Libya. 

Like many Syrians escaping war and instability, he had hoped to find safety in Europe but was forced to take dangerous migration routes due to the continuing insecurity in his home country. 

On 18 June 2025, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), as well as to other UN mechanisms, concerning five Syrian citizens abducted by the internal security forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar and his affiliates in Benghazi, eastern Libya, on 11 December 2024. 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said he was shocked by the grave human rights violations recently uncovered in both official and unofficial detention centers operated by the Stability Support Apparatus in Tripoli.

Alkarama has informed the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) of the reappearance of a number of victims of enforced disappearance in Libya, whose cases had previously been submitted by Alkarama. The victims were recently freed by government authorities from several secret prisons formerly controlled by armed militias. 

On 6 May 2025, Alkarama submitted the case of Wael Mansour Abdeljawad Al Malki to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).