Libya

The following information is based on the Amnesty International Report 2022/23. This report documented the human rights situation in 156 countries in 2022/23, as well as providing global and regional analysis. It presents Amnesty International’s concerns and calls for action to governments and others. 

LIBYA 2022/23

Militias, armed groups and security forces continued to arbitrarily detain thousands of people. Scores of protesters, lawyers, journalists, critics and activists were rounded up and subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances and forced “confessions” on camera. Militias and armed groups used unlawful force to repress peaceful protests across the country. Dozens of people were arrested, prosecuted and/or sentenced to lengthy imprisonment or death for their religious beliefs; for their actual or perceived gender identity and/or sexual orientation; or for their LGBTI activism. Authorities, militias and armed groups imposed severe restrictions on civic space and humanitarian access to affected communities, and engaged in smear campaigns against international and Libyan rights groups. Militias and armed groups killed and wounded civilians and destroyed civilian property during sporadic, localized clashes. Impunity remained widespread, and authorities funded abusive militias and armed groups. Women and girls faced entrenched discrimination and violence. Ethnic minorities and internally displaced people faced barriers in accessing education and healthcare. EU-backed Libyan coastguards and the Stability Support Authority militia intercepted thousands of refugees and migrants at sea and forcibly returned them to detention in Libya. Detained migrants and refugees were subjected to torture, unlawful killings, sexual violence and forced labor.  
Libyans queue at a distance outside a bakery, during a curfew announced by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in areas under its control to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, in the capital Tripoli on April 19, 2020. – Already tired by the tribulations of war, Libyans in the capital Tripoli are reluctant to respect lockdown measures introduced Friday to control coronavirus, which has officially infected 49 people in the country. The UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) announced a total curfew for 10 days in areas under its control in western Libya on Thursday. Driving is banned and people are only allowed out to do their shopping on foot between 7am and noon. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images)

Press Release

Historic discrimination in Libya threatens right to health of minorities in the south amid COVID-19

April 21, 2020 | COVID-19

Migrants stand and walk outside at a detention centre used by the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital Tripoli’s southern suburb of Tajoura on July 3, 2019, following an air strike on a nearby building that left dozens killed the previous night. – Over 40 migrants were killed in an air strike early late on July 2 on their detention centre in a Tripoli suburb blamed on Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who has been trying for three months to seize the capital. The UN said the air strike “may amount to a war crime”. More than 130 people were also wounded in the in the raid on Tajoura, the statement added. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP) (Photo credit should read MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Abhorrent attack on migrant detention center in Libya must be investigated as a war crime

July 3, 2019 | Libya

A boy climbs over rubble near the Yarmouk military compound, controlled by the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) forces, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli following air strikes July 1, 2019. – Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar’s forces, which hold much of eastern and southern Libya, launched an offensive in early April to seize the capital from the internationally recognised unity government. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP) (Photo credit should read MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

UN arms embargo violations put Tripoli’s 1.2 million civilians in grave danger

July 2, 2019 | Libya