The European Union has called for an immediate halt to further executions and death sentences in eastern Libya, after authorities resumed capital punishment in Benghazi and Derna for the first time since 2010.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the European External Action Service said the executions had ended a de facto moratorium that had lasted about 15 years.
The EU reiterated its opposition to the death penalty “in all circumstances,” describing capital punishment as cruel, inhuman and irreversible.The statement did not give a total number of people executed.
Independent rights groups and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), however, say more than 30 people have been killed in recent weeks.
Because the proceedings and case files have not been made publicly available, the precise toll and the legal status of individual cases remain difficult to verify independently.
What is known about the executions
Amnesty International reported on 11 September that at least 30 people had been executed since 23 August. It said at least 50 other men under death sentence in eastern Libya faced an imminent risk of execution.
Amnesty attributed the executions to the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), the de facto authority controlling much of eastern and southern Libya, and said the cases had been heard by military courts.
The Committee for Justice, a rights organisation, documented 31 executions by 10 September. Its tally included 23 people from Benghazi and eight from Derna.
It said the sentences had been issued by military courts and upheld by Supreme Military Court affiliated with the LAAF’s Military Judiciary Authority.
The group cautioned that it could not independently determine whether fair- trial guarantees had been respected because case files and judicial rulings were inaccessible.
The reported executions began with an announcement on 23 August that 10 people had been put to death after military-court convictions on terrorism- related charges.
Libya Crimes Watch said at least six more people were executed by firing squad on 29 August at Qarnada Military Prison in Shahat.
It reported that relatives were not formally notified in advance and were later contacted to collect the bodies.
The Associated Press also reported the initial execution of 10 people and said the killings prompted condemnation from rights groups.
The figures are not necessarily contradictory: the groups used different cut-off dates and documentation methods.
UNSMIL said on 16 September that “more than 30” people had been executed in eastern Libya in recent weeks.
Due-process concerns
The central dispute is not only the use of capital punishment but also the proceedings that preceded it.
Amnesty said several defendants reported being tortured after arrest by LAAFaffiliated armed groups and that alleged forced confessions were used as evidence. It described the trials as secretive and grossly unfair.
Libya Crimes Watch cited recurring concerns in eastern military courts, including the trial of civilians before military tribunals, restricted access to lawyers and case files, inadequate
opportunities to present a defence, and the alleged use of torture-tainted confessions.
It said authorities had not shown whether defendants had exhausted appeals or been given an opportunity to seek a pardon or commutation.
The EU said victims’ families had also requested due process and argued that credible, transparent and rights- compliant proceedings are necessary both to deliver justice and to preserve public confidence in the rule of law.
It urged the relevant authorities to work with UNSMIL and its Human Rights team to review the procedures used in capital cases.
UNSMIL made a similar appeal, saying it had engaged eastern authorities at political and technical levels and had urged a suspension and credible review of the cases.
The mission said the executions had continued despite those efforts. It also acknowledged authorities’ responsibility to protect the population and hold people accountable for terrorism and other serious crimes, while insisting that accountability must respect fair-trial
and due-process standards.
Libya’s divided justice system
The executions are taking place against the backdrop of Libya’s institutional and political division.
Human Rights Watch says the Tripoli- based Government of National Unity controls western Libya, while the LAAF and its affiliated civilian administration control eastern and southern areas.
The split has persisted since 2014. That fragmentation has also affected the justice system.
Human Rights Watch says military courts have continued to try civilians, lawyers have struggled to visit detainees or obtain case documents, and judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers have faced intimidation.
The organisation says 30 articles of Libya’s penal code provide for the death penalty, including for some speech and association offences.
As of December 2024, Libya’s prosecutor general had confirmed death sentences against 105 people, according to Human Rights Watch.
Nineteen were detained, while others were no longer in custody or had been tried in absentia. Human Rights Watch also reported that Libyan authorities had not carried out executions since 2010, even though courts continued to issue death sentences.
Wider significance
The resumption of executions has raised concerns that Libya’s fragile rule-of-law and reconciliation efforts could be further undermined.
UNSMIL said the killings came at a time
when confidence in state institutions and the prospects for national reconciliation were already critical concerns.
For the EU, the issue also reflects its broader policy of opposing capital punishment worldwide.
Its statement called on countries that retain the death penalty to abolish it, or at minimum to maintain or introduce a moratorium as a step toward abolition. It urged governments considering a return to executions not to take that step.
The immediate demands from the EU, UNSMIL and rights organisations are similar: suspend further executions, disclose the relevant judgments and case files ensure access to counsel.
And appeal procedures, investigate allegations of torture and other abuses, and review death sentences through proceedings that meet Libya’s national and international human-rights obligations.
The eastern authorities’ response to the latest EU statement was not included in the materials reviewed for this report.
