The recent arrest of Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, known as “Al-Buti”, by German authorities at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on 16 July on the basis of an ICC arrest warrant marks a significant development in the Court’s investigation into the situation in Libya. ECCHR now calls on Germany to ensure his prompt and successful surrender to The Hague so that proceedings can move forward and survivors can see justice delivered.
El Hishri is alleged to have been a senior official at Mitiga Prison in Tripoli, long controlled by the Al‑Radaa (Special Deterrence Forces) militia, a powerful armed group previously tasked with managing detention facilities in western Libya. According to the ICC, El Hishri is accused of committing or presiding over crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence from February 2015 to, at least, early 2020.
The arrest is a crucial development as the first case in the Libya Situation moving toward trial before the ICC in The Hague. “This arrest is a long‑overdue breakthrough for survivors of the grave crimes committed in detention in Libya, at Mitiga and beyond. It demonstrates that international justice can work when states cooperate,” said Allison West, Senior Legal Advisor at ECCHR. “Germany’s decisive action stands in stark contrast to other recent failures of cooperation. If the ICC is to fulfil its mandate in Libya, all states must support the Court, not selectively, but consistently. Accountability cannot stop at militia commanders; it must extend to everyone who enables or sustains systems of abuse in Libya.”
The arrest of El Hishri is an essential first step in the ICC's efforts to confront the full chain of responsibility for international crimes in Libya’s abusive detention system. ECCHR and Refugees in Libya’s recent position paper on the ICC’s Libya Situation offers detailed recommendations on the investigation’s next steps to secure justice for international crimes in Libya.
Background:
El Hishri is the second suspected perpetrator of international crimes at Mitiga Prison to be arrested on European soil this year. In January, Italy failed to surrender Osama Elmasry Njeem, a Libyan national alleged to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity at Mitiga, after his arrest in Turin. Instead, Italy facilitated his return to Libya on a state aircraft. Germany must now ensure the prompt surrender of El Hishri to the ICC. ECCHR also calls on Libyan authorities to fully cooperate with the ICC, including by promptly arresting and surrendering all suspects subject to ICC arrest warrants, including Elmasry.
Mitiga remains part of a broader network of official and unofficial detention sites across Libya where serious violations of international law continue largely unchecked. Victims include Libyan nationals as well as migrants and refugees, many of whom are arbitrarily detained and subjected to torture, extortion, and sexual violence. In 2021 and 2022, ECCHR and partners submitted two Article 15 Communications to the ICC documenting crimes against migrants and refugees within Libya’s detention system, including the role of European cooperation on migration control in enabling some of these abuses.
