‘The guards torture you every day’: a migrant’s account of Libya’s al-Maya detention center

“I tried to cross the Mediterranean in mid-June, but after only 10 minutes at sea, armed Libyans intercepted the boat I was in. There were about 60 people on board. 

These Libyans, who were not wearing military uniforms, dropped us off at the port of Zawiya (a western municipality).

Ousmane claims that the armed men were not Libyan coast guards but militiamen. InfoMigrants was not able to verify this information.

They searched us, took our phones and money. They later took us in a pick-up truck toward Maya (a town on Tripoli’s western outskirts). The detention center there is known among migrants as one of the worst prisons in the country.

The al-Maya facility is an unofficial detention center managed by the Stabilization Support Authority (SSA). Established in 2021, the militia is notorious for its cruelty.

It is present on the coasts and implicated in interceptions of migrants at sea, just like the Libyan coast guard. In Libya, the interior ministry manages official prisons and militias or gangs manage secret prisons.

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Once we arrived in the detention center, the guards ordered the men to get undressed, while the women were directed to another wing of the prison. Everyone was in their underwear and the Libyans searched us once again.

We were standing in a row with our hands against the wall. The prison head took his gun and fired several shots on the ground near our feet. The guards then made us get in line to make us enter the prison cells. As we walked by, the guards hit us one after the other.

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‘The guards spit on you, insult you and threaten you’

The abuse began the next morning. The guards come for you, take you to a torture chamber and beat you with pipes. They also bind your feet and legs with wire and run an electric current through your extremities (a form of electric shock torture). They speak to you in Arabic, spit on you, insult you and threaten you.

The torture would sometimes take place in a cell, in front of everyone.

While they torture you, they call your family so they send a ransom, which can be over 1,000 euros. If the money doesn’t come, the violence intensifies. If a family member is rude to the guards over the phone, the abuse escalates. 

The Libyans torture you daily. There were about 20 migrants in my prison cell. Everyone had experienced some form of violence. You can hear women and men screaming the whole day.  

I still have scars on my body: on my back, wrists, and torso.

The abuses in al-Maya prison are well known. Over the years, Libya Crimes Watch and Amnesty International have documented the torture, forced labor and prostitution which takes place there. The non-governmental organizations have also documented the overcrowded conditions in the prison combined with a lack of water and food.

In addition to everything, there was almost no food. They starve migrants in this place. I was in this hell for four days and never given anything to eat. Only a little water.

I was lucky because I was able to scrape together the required amount quickly. But that prison is inhuman. If you have no one to help you, no family, or friends, what do they do to you? No one can last more than a week there, or it’s a certain death.

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