Death behind closed doors: Haftar forces execute 10 alleged ‘terrorists’ without public trials

Executions in eastern Libya cast shadow over Haftar family’s role in US-backed unification drive

Ten people were executed by firing squad at the notorious Garnada military prison near Shahat in eastern Libya, according to the Haftar-affiliated Military Prosecutor’s Office – reported by pro-Haftar media outlets, which said the ten people had been convicted of “terrorism-related crimes after years of legal proceedings.”

Local sources and human rights advocates disputed that account, saying some of those executed were from Derna and had faced politically motivated prosecutions without basic fair-trial guarantees. The allegations could not be independently verified.

The executions have drawn renewed attention to the Haftar family’s expanding role in a US-backed effort to unify Libya’s divided political, military and economic institutions.

The Military Prosecutor’s Office said the ten had been convicted by the Supreme Military Court of offences including membership in banned organizations and involvement in attacks on military personnel and civilians. It said all appeals and defense procedures had been completed.

Local accounts described a different process, alleging that some detainees had been targeted because of their political affiliations or opposition to eastern authorities. The identities of those executed and the full records of their trials have not been made public.

That lack of transparency is significant because Garnada prison operates within the military-security system controlled by Khalifa Haftar and his family.

In May, eastern authorities announced the release of 250 inmates from the facility following instructions from Khalifa Haftar and under the supervision of his son Saddam Haftar.

The executions come as Washington increasingly treats the Haftar family as a key partner in efforts to reunify Libya.

US presidential adviser Massad Boulos has made institutional unification central to Washington’s Libya policy. Saddam Haftar met Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington in June to discuss efforts to unify Libya’s military, political and economic institutions. Boulos has more than once praised eastern leaders for backing the initiative.

The policy reflects a pragmatic calculation: direct engagement with Libya’s rival power centers may reduce the risk of renewed war, particularly after Haftar’s failed offensive against Tripoli in 2019-20.

But the executions highlight the limits of that approach.

Military cooperation does not necessarily create a national army, and agreements between rival commanders do not automatically produce accountable state institutions, observers say.

They argue that if armed authorities retain control over detention, military courts and capital punishment, unification could consolidate existing power networks rather than replace them with institutions subject to civilian and judicial oversight.

The competing accounts of the Garnada executions therefore raise a central question for Washington and its international partners: are they changing the conduct of Libya’s power holders, or simply granting them greater international legitimacy?

The answer will shape whether the US-backed process produces a genuinely unified state or merely brings rival elites together while leaving the systems of coercion beneath them intact.