The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is to begin landmark trial into crimes against humanity in Libya's detention system. In the first case arising from the 15-year investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into Libya, the proceedings against Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri mark an important step closer to justice, truth and reparations for victims of the notorious Mitiga Prison complex in Tripoli. On 16 July 2026, the ICC committed him to trial.

Together with Refugees in Libya, ECCHR provides legal support to victims participating in the El Hishri case, building on its long-standing efforts to advance accountability for crimes against people on the move in Libya and the Central Mediterranean through legal submissions to the ICC and support to survivors engaging with the Court.

On 1 December 2025, German authorities surrendered Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, also known as Al Booti or Sheikh Khaled, to the ICC in The Hague. He was arrested in Berlin on 16 July 2025 pursuant to an ICC warrant. 

El Hishri, a senior figure within the powerful Tripoli-based militia formerly known as SDF/RADA, which is affiliated with the Libyan Presidential Council, stands accused of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during his time as an official in charge of Mitiga Prison in Tripoli, Libya, between 1 May 2014 and 30 June 2020. 

He is accused of committing, ordering and overseeing torture and cruel treatment, imprisonment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and other forms of sexual violence, murder and attempted murder, enslavement, and persecution against Libyan detainees as well as migrants and refugees. From 19 to 21 May 2026 the confirmation of charges hearing took place in The Hague and on 16 July 2026, the Pre-Trial chamber found substantial grounds to believe El Hishri is responsible for committing all 17 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Court will soon publish the first trial hearing dates. 

The confirmation of enslavement and persecution charges is particularly significant. In a groundbreaking application of an intersectional approach, the Chamber has recognized that the crimes charged affected detainees differently depending on overlapping factors. It found, in particular, that Black migrants were enslaved and persecuted because of the combined effects of their race, nationality, ethnicity and migration status, including through racialized forced labor and other forms of exploitation and abuse. This is an important recognition of the specific experiences of migrants and refugees.

After the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya entered a period of political fragmentation and recurring armed conflict. In western Libya, SDF/RADA became one of the most influential armed actors in Tripoli. As a central part of their consolidation of power, SDF/RADA has maintained control over the Mitiga compound, which includes an airport, other strategic assets and a prison complex in which Libyans and migrants and refugees are arbitrarily detained and systematically abused. 

People on the move who end up in Mitiga Prison arrive through human trafficking or slave trade, through violent interceptions at sea and forced return to Libyan detention, or abduction by armed groups. For them, Mitiga Prison is one part of a broader migrant detention industry in Libya, in which people are systematically commodified and abused for labor, profit, and power within the country’s conflict economy. 

These are not a series of isolated abuses but a coordinated policy of containment. Libyan and European actors each contribute essential parts to a common plan: intercepting people at sea, returning them to Libya, and maintaining a cycle of violence and exploitation on land. European institutions and states provide vessels, training, and operational coordination — all in full knowledge of the consequences. 

El Hishri is not the only Mitiga-related suspect sought by the ICC. In January 2025, Italy arrested Osama Elmasry Njeem pursuant to an ICC arrest warrant, but returned him to Libya shortly afterwards, underscoring the ongoing challenges of securing state cooperation and accountability for international crimes in Libya