Libya’s Eastern Forces Resume Executions After Military Trials
Rights groups say the verdicts followed secret trials built on confessions extracted under torture and are urging states that back the LAAF to press its leaders to halt further killings.
Overview
- Human Rights Watch says the Libyan Arab Armed Forces has executed at least 31 people since late August 2026 after military trials.
- The group warns that about 50 people held at the Gernada military prison face imminent risk of execution.
- Reporters and rights monitors describe the trials as secret, say confessions were allegedly obtained under torture, and note the convictions continued despite a November 2025 Supreme Court ruling limiting military courts’ jurisdiction over civilians.
- The LAAF is an east-based force commanded by Gen. Khalifa Haftar that controls eastern and southern Libya, and families report they were not told in advance, were denied bodies, and were forbidden from holding funerals.
- The United Nations and Tripoli’s Government of National Unity condemned the executions, and rights groups are calling on governments that fund or train the LAAF to use their leverage to secure a moratorium, retrials in civilian courts, or transfers that meet fair-trial standards.