Eastern Libya's de facto authorities have resumed executions for the first time since 2010, ending a 15-year de facto moratorium on the death penalty. At least 30 people have been executed since August 23 — and two independent organizations, Amnesty International and the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), are now calling for the campaign to stop immediately.
What the two organizations found
Amnesty International, in a September 11 urgent action, reported that the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) — the de facto authorities in eastern Libya — had carried out executions of at least 30 individuals sentenced to death following what Amnesty described as "grossly unfair, torture-tainted and secretive trials before military courts." Some of those executed had been convicted of murder and terrorism-related offenses tied to the armed conflict between the LAAF and opposing armed groups from 2014 to 2018. Amnesty says several of the men reported being tortured upon arrest by LAAF-affiliated armed groups to extract "confessions" that were then used as evidence to prosecute them.
UNSMIL independently reached the same figure: in a statement issued in mid-September, the mission said "more than 30 people" had been executed in recent weeks, expressed "serious concern," and demanded that the eastern authorities "immediately suspend future executions." The mission said it had maintained "constant dialogue" with the relevant authorities at political and technical levels, urging suspension and a "thorough and credible review" of the cases in line with Libya's human rights obligations — and that it "deeply regrets" those efforts have not stopped the executions.
The timeline of a campaign
The resumption began openly: on August 23, the LAAF's military prosecutor announced that 10 people had been executed after convictions for joining "terrorist groups" and murder — the first executions in Libya since 2010. Amnesty documented 30 executions between August 23 and September 9 alone.
The pattern Amnesty describes goes beyond the trials themselves. Many of those executed or under sentence were arrested in Derna and Benghazi during or after armed conflicts; at least five of them had been forcibly disappeared or held incommunicado after arrests between 2015 and 2018 — in some cases for up to two years. Amnesty attributes to the LAAF-allied Internal Security Agency the torture of at least four of them to extract confessions later used as evidence. The organization says those executed and at risk include fighters as well as individuals suspected of opposing the LAAF, in some cases on the basis of family or tribal affiliations.
And the campaign may not be over: Amnesty says at least 50 men under death sentences remain at imminent risk at Gernada military prison, and has called on the LAAF to halt all executions, declare an official moratorium, quash convictions from the unfair trials, and allow international monitors into Gernada and other detention facilities.
The UN keeps talking — so far without results
UNSMIL has not stopped engaging. On September 27, its Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law team held a series of meetings in Benghazi with the National Council for Public Liberties and Human Rights, judicial authorities — including the military prosecutor, the public prosecutor, and the head of the Judicial Police — and the national prison-monitoring committee. The resumption of executions was discussed, UNSMIL said, without providing details on individual cases.
The mission has been careful to acknowledge the authorities' stated responsibility to "protect the population" and ensure accountability for terrorism and serious crimes. But it has framed the core objection plainly: these events "raise serious concerns regarding human rights at a time when it is crucial to strengthen public trust in state institutions, the rule of law, and national reconciliation."
Libya has lived under institutional division since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, with a parallel government in the east and reunification efforts repeatedly failing. The executions are a reminder that eastern Libya's justice system operates on its own terms — and that the international community's leverage over those terms remains, for now, limited to words.
