Libya: At least 31 executions in the East since late August, 50 detainees at risk according to Human Rights Watch

At least 31 people have been executed since the end of August 2026 in eastern Libya, a region controlled by the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) of General Khalifa Haftar, Human Rights Watch states in a report published on October 14, 2026. The organization specifies that at least 50 other detainees at the Gernada military prison could be executed at any moment.

The first executions since 2010

On August 23, 2026, the LAAF military prosecutor announced that ten people had been executed by firing squad for murder and terrorism-related offenses. By September 10, human rights organizations had identified at least 31 executions in total, HRW indicates. For the organization, these are the first known executions in the country since 2010, following more than fifteen years of a de facto moratorium. "Every execution carried out under these conditions constitutes an irreversible injustice," says Bassam Khawaja, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at HRW.

Civilians tried by military courts

Several of the executed individuals had been arrested in Derna and Benghazi during the 2014-2018 armed conflict or afterward. Between 2018 and 2021, military courts in the east sentenced hundreds of civilians, including at least 22 to death, in trials targeting real or perceived critics of the LAAF, according to HRW.

The organization describes hearings held behind closed doors and without notice, out of reach of families, journalists, and NGOs. Some defendants were unable to choose their own lawyers; defense attorneys were unable to meet with their clients in private or examine evidence. No written and reasoned judgments were reportedly provided. The convictions were largely based on confessions that Amnesty International believes were obtained under torture, notably by the Internal Security Agency, an armed group affiliated with the LAAF. Two death sentences commuted to life imprisonment on appeal in 2019 were nonetheless followed by executions this year.

A Supreme Court ruling ignored

In November 2025, the constitutional chamber of the Libyan Supreme Court had ruled that the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians, provided for by Law No. 4/2017, was unconstitutional. The executions took place despite this ruling. Families were not notified; authorities refused to return the bodies, asked relatives to identify the deceased, and then organized burials without them while banning funerals, HRW reports.

Fifteen years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya remains divided between the internationally recognized Government of National Unity in Tripoli and the LAAF in the east and south. HRW is calling for an immediate halt to executions, a moratorium on the death penalty, and a review of the cases of civilians tried by military justice. The organization also calls on governments that fund, train, or legitimize the LAAF to exert their full influence. The United Nations and the Tripoli government have condemned these executions.