Human Rights Watch has accused forces affiliated with retired General Khalifa Haftar of carrying out what it described as a wave of executions in eastern Libya following military trials it said were “extremely unfair”, warning that dozens of other detainees could soon face execution.
31 detainees executed and warning over 50 death sentences
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the organisation said the “Libyan Arab Armed Forces”, which control eastern and southern Libya, had executed at least 31 people since late August. It described the cases as the first known executions in the country since 2010. It added that at least 50 people held at Qarნada military prison face the risk of execution, and called on forces affiliated with Haftar to immediately halt all executions.
The military prosecutor affiliated with these forces announced on 23 August that 10 people had been executed by firing squad after being convicted of murder and terrorism-related offences. Human rights organisations later documented that the number of people executed had risen to at least 31 by 10 September.
Allegations of secret trials and confessions obtained under torture
Human Rights Watch quoted Bassam Khawaja, the organisation’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, as saying that Haftar’s forces had executed people after secret trials based on confessions extracted under torture. He added that the trials had taken place before courts that Libya’s Supreme Court had previously ruled were not permitted to try civilians.
Khawaja said every execution carried out in such circumstances represented an irreversible injustice, urging governments with influence over forces affiliated with Haftar to intervene to prevent further executions. According to the organisation’s report, many of those executed had been arrested in the cities of Derna and Benghazi during the armed conflict in the region between 2014 and 2018, or in the period that followed.
Death sentences imposed on civilians between 2018 and 2021
The report said military courts in eastern Libya convicted hundreds of civilians between 2018 and 2021 in secret trials targeting actual or alleged critics of Haftar’s forces, and sentenced at least 22 of them to death.
The organisation revealed that two of the people executed this year had had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by a higher military court in 2019. It also said the executions were carried out despite a ruling issued by the Constitutional Chamber of Libya’s Supreme Court in November 2025, which found it unconstitutional to grant military courts jurisdiction to try civilians in terrorism and crimes against the state cases.
Victims’ families denied bodies and farewell ceremonies Victims’ families denied bodies and farewell ceremonies
The report addressed what it described as violations against the families of those executed, saying that the authorities had not notified their relatives in advance of the execution dates and had also refused to hand over the bodies.
The organisation added that the authorities had asked relatives of the victims to identify the bodies, then buried them without the families present and warned relatives against holding funeral ceremonies. Human Rights Watch said carrying out executions in secret and denying those sentenced to death the chance to say farewell to their families before their execution constituted violations of international law.
Local human rights organisations also documented defendants being denied the right to choose their lawyers or communicate with them privately, as well as trials being held without the presence of families, journalists or human rights monitors, and defendants not being given written, reasoned verdicts. The organisation called on the Libyan authorities to halt executions and limit the jurisdiction of military courts to military offences committed by military personnel.
It also urged governments that fund, train or provide political support to Haftar’s forces to use their influence to pressure them to halt the executions.
The allegations come amid continuing political and security divisions in Libya between the internationally recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli and forces affiliated with Haftar, which control large areas of the country’s east and south.
