Migrants and refugees who are intercepted while crossing the Mediterranean and forcibly returned to Libyan detention centers are subjected to grave human rights abuses. Despite knowledge of these crimes, a number of EU actors have increased their cooperation with Libya. To push for an end to this impunity, we filed a communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2022 against 24 individuals, including 16 high-level decision makers from EU member states, the EU Commission, the EU border management agency FRONTEX, the European External Action Service EESA, and the EU military mission EUNAVOR MED.
El Hishri Case ICC
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, welcome the recent arrest of Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, known as “Al-Buti,” by German authorities at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on 16 July 2025 on the basis of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. His arrest marks a significant step forward in long-stalled efforts to achieve accountability for grave international crimes committed in Libya. We commend German authorities for taking swift and decisive action.
El Hishri is alleged to have been a senior official at Mitiga Prison in Tripoli. El Hishri is a member of the Special Deterrence Force for Combatting Terrorism and Organized Crime (“Al-Radaa”) under the Libyan Presidential Council, a powerful armed group that operates detention sites in western Libya, including Mitiga Prison. According to the ICC, El Hishri is accused of committing or overseeing crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence from February 2015 to, at least, early 2020.
The arrest of El Hishri is a crucial development, as it marks the first case in the ICC’s Libya Situation moving toward proceedings in The Hague. It sends an important message to survivors that justice is possible, even in the context of ongoing conflict and shifting power dynamics in Libya. However, justice requires follow-through. We urge Germany to ensure El Hishri’s prompt and successful surrender to the ICC, so that proceedings can advance without delay.
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