Humanitarian Volunteers for Gaza Remain Hostage in Libya: Families Report Psychological Deterioration After Additional 30 Days El Ciudadano

Original article: Voluntarios por Gaza siguen secuestrados en Libia: familias alertan deterioro psicológico y otros 30 días de encierro

The ten members of the humanitarian mission Global Sumud Maghreb, who were heading to Gaza, continue to be held hostage in Eastern Libya, with their detention now extended for an additional 30 days in Benghazi. Their families are raising alarms about the psychological decline resulting from their confinement.

Concerns heightened this Wednesday following a recent phone call with Lucas Aguilera and Paula Giménez, the two Argentine citizens who have been arbitrarily detained in Eastern Libya since May 24. While the volunteers, who serve as research directors for Noticias de América Latina y el Caribe (NODAL), reported being physically stable, they described experiencing a “significant psychological decline” due to 19 days of isolation, complete uncertainty, and constant pressure.

Their families explained that the suffering inflicted by prolonged captivity under these conditions operates as a draining factor that severely undermines their mental and physical health.

According to NODAL, the conversation intensified concerns given the context of a total legal helplessness. There is no verifiable official information or clear explanations regarding the judicial processes they are undergoing with the Eastern Libyan authorities. This situation, their relatives asserted, constitutes a systematic violation of fundamental due process guarantees and international humanitarian law.

Lucas Aguilera, Paula Jiménez, and the other eight volunteers—Matías Álvarez Rodríguez (Uruguay), Alicia Armesto Núñez (Spain), Domenico Centrone (Italy), Leonarda Alberizia (Italy), Ana Margarida França Santana Baptista (Portugal), Lauro Kwoczala (Poland), Ashraf Khoja (Tunisia), and Jenelle Jones (United States)—continue to demand full access to effective legal assistance, a right that has been denied to them since day one.

According to the detainees during the call, their captors informed them that they will remain confined for at least 30 more days while an “ongoing investigation” continues. This decision, NODAL emphasized, «was communicated without the effective assistance of the lawyers currently trying to visit them to intervene in their defense and in a context where the detainees continue to call for full access to basic procedural guarantees».

This extension adds to the initial postponement already experienced, arriving after the volunteers staged a hunger strike lasting over four days—which led to their first phone call on June 4—and also as a result of the massive international solidarity pressure.

Demand for Increased Diplomatic Efforts and Immediate Humanitarian Intervention

In the diplomatic arena, consular representatives from Spain and Italy made new visits in recent days, including an Italian initiative on June 10.

However, both the families and NODAL members are calling for a more determined effort from the Argentine Foreign Ministry and all involved governments.

“Protecting citizens abroad is an urgent and non-delegable obligation,” they asserted, noting that complaints have been lodged with the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to compel immediate humanitarian intervention.

“We demand the immediate release of Lucas, Paula, and all detained volunteers. We also demand an urgent humanitarian visit with independent medical assistance, the end of isolation and psychological harassment, and coordinated action by governments on-site. We will not normalize their continued confinement. Every message, every protest in the streets and on social media is the force that sustains them,” warned members from NODAL.

They recalled that both Lucas and Paula, along with the other eight volunteers, are deprived of their freedom for participating in a civil and humanitarian initiative aimed at facilitating the entry of medical assistance, food, and emergency aid for the Palestinian population in Gaza.

From the Global Sumud Flotilla, which organized the humanitarian caravan aimed at breaking the siege on Gaza, they reaffirmed that these ten civilians, including doctors, humanitarian workers, a filmmaker, and a journalist, must not remain imprisoned for another day.

“Each additional day of detention increases the political responsibility of the authorities holding them and of the governments that have the capacity to intervene,” they affirmed.