The Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), which controls eastern and southern Libya, has resumed judicial executions, as rights groups warn that at least 50 men sentenced to death face imminent execution.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented at least 31 executions by Sept. 10. Amnesty International reported at least 30 since Aug. 23 in a Sept. 11 statement. HRW described them as Libya’s first known executions since 2010.
Libya Crimes Watch and The Associated Press reported that an Aug. 23 announcement attributed to the LAAF Military Prosecutor General’s Office said 10 people had been executed by firing squad after Supreme Military Court convictions. The United Nations Human Rights Office reported 11 men killed in the first episode. The reports give different initial counts.
The prosecutor’s office said the convictions involved membership in groups it classified as terrorist and prohibited, along with assassinations of military personnel and civilians. Libya Crimes Watch said the announcement did not provide enough information to verify case records or the status of appeals.
HRW said the military hearings were closed to relatives, reporters and rights organizations. It said some defendants could not consult privately with lawyers, present a defense or examine evidence. Amnesty International said some detainees reported torture and that courts used confessions they described as forced. HRW, citing Amnesty, said at least two people executed in 2026 had their death sentences reduced to life in 2019.
The legal dispute over military courts predates the executions. On Nov. 2, 2025, Libya’s Supreme Court Constitutional Chamber ruled Law No. 4 of 2017 unconstitutional insofar as it gave military courts authority over civilians charged with terrorism or crimes against the state. HRW said eastern military courts had convicted hundreds of civilians in secret trials from 2018 to 2021, sentencing at least 22 to death.
HRW also reported that some people put to death had been detained in Derna or Benghazi amid or after the 2014-18 fighting between the LAAF and rival armed groups. Libya remains divided between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, which controls the west, and the LAAF and allied forces in the east and south.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) reported on Sept. 16 that executions had not stopped during its contacts with eastern authorities and called for a suspension and case reviews. HRW and Amnesty said at least 50 other men under death sentences faced imminent execution; many were held at Gernada/Qarnada Military Prison.
