Human Rights Watch has called on the Lebanese authorities to immediately release Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s former leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Hannibal has been held in pretrial detention on questionable charges since his arrest in December 2015. According to the rights group, almost 80% of Lebanon’s prison population is in pretrial detention, with some individuals held for several years without charges.
Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces took custody of Hannibal in 2015, accusing him of having a connection to the disappearance of Lebanese Shiite Imam, Moussa Al-Sadr and two companions in Libya in 1978.
Despite Hannibal being only two years old in 1978, and having no senior official position as an adult, he was charged with “withholding information and subsequently interfering in the crime of continued kidnapping” of Sadr.
Hanan Salah, Associate Director at Human Rights Watch, criticized Hannibal’s arbitrary detention, stating that it “makes a mockery of Lebanon’s judicial system.” The organization urged authorities to drop the charges and release him.
Despite Human Rights Watch’s request for detailed information on the judicial status and health, there has been no response from Lebanese authorities.
Hannibal reportedly went on a hunger strike from June to October 2023, to protest his arbitrary detention and poor conditions. Lebanon’s prison conditions have deteriorated significantly since the economic crisis in 2019.
He was kidnapped in 2015 in Syria and later transferred to Lebanon, where he was tortured and demanded information on Sadr’s disappearance. After being freed from his captors, he was arrested by Lebanese authorities, accused of concealing information about Sadr’s disappearance.
Lebanese authorities claimed Hannibal provided an affidavit during his detention, but his lawyer dismissed the claim, stating it was made under duress without legal representation.
Throughout Hannibal’s imprisonment, little information on his judicial status has been released, and it remains unclear which judicial entity periodically reviews his continued detention.
Human Rights Watch stressed that under international law, detention should adhere to strict due process, and pretrial detention should be the exception, not the rule.