ICC Libya Trial Spurs Calls to Examine EU Role

Arabic version: محاكمة في المحكمة الجنائية الدولية بشأن ليبيا تثير دعوات لفحص دور الاتحاد الأوروبي

According to Allafrica, International Criminal Court judges in late July unanimously confirmed charges against former Libyan security official Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, clearing the way for a trial over alleged crimes at Mitiga prison in Tripoli.

The case is the first to reach trial since the ICC opened its Libya investigation 15 years ago. El Hishri faces 17 confirmed charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including imprisonment, torture, rape, murder, enslavement and persecution involving Libyan and non-Libyan detainees, including migrants and refugees.

El Hishri was a senior official in the Special Deterrence Force militia, which controlled the area where Mitiga is located. He is alleged to have held general authority over the prison and direct control over its women’s section. The trial is likely to begin in the coming months and could last several years.

Authors Allison West and Viola Castellano said migrant and refugee testimony could place Mitiga within a wider system of migration containment, exploitation and abuse across Libya and the central Mediterranean. They argued that this context should prompt the ICC prosecutor to examine the role and potential criminal responsibility of individual European Union and member-state officials.

The article says that, especially since 2016, the EU and its member states, with Italy at the forefront, have supported Libyan actors to prevent Mediterranean departures through funding, equipment, coordination and political backing. It says survivors, UN officials, human rights organisations and journalists have documented abuses for years, and calls the El Hishri case a possible starting point for broader scrutiny of Europe’s responsibility.