Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Lebanese authorities to formally drop all charges against Hannibal Muammar Gaddafi and provide compensation for what the organization described as nearly a decade of unlawful detention. The request comes only days after Gaddafi was released following the payment of a reduced bail.
In its statement issued on Thursday, Human Rights Watch said that although Lebanese authorities released Hannibal Gaddafi on November 10, they have not formally dismissed the charges related to allegedly withholding information about the 1978 disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr. According to two of Gaddafi’s lawyers, he was only two years old at the time of the disappearance, which occurred in Libya during the era of his father’s rule.
Gaddafi’s release followed a judicial order issued by Investigative Judge Zaher Hamadeh on October 17. The initial conditions required a bail of USD 11 million and imposed a two-month travel ban. After an appeal by the defense team, Lebanese authorities reduced the bail to USD 900,000 and lifted the travel restrictions on November 6.
Human Rights Watch described the release as a long-overdue step toward ending what it called years of unlawful treatment. Adam Coogle, deputy director for the Middle East at the organization, said that Gaddafi’s release “was necessary, but it came a decade late.” He added that Lebanon must formally close the case and compensate Gaddafi for the injustice he endured.
Coogle also urged Lebanese authorities to investigate the circumstances of Gaddafi’s detention and hold those responsible accountable, stressing the importance of strengthening judicial independence and ensuring that similar cases do not occur in the future.
A Human Rights Watch researcher visited Gaddafi in August at the Information Branch facility of the Internal Security Forces in Beirut. It was the first time an international human rights organization had been allowed access to him since his arrest.
Hannibal Gaddafi was detained in December 2015 after being abducted by armed men in Syria near the Lebanese border. He was later transferred to Lebanese custody and charged with withholding information related to the disappearance of Musa al-Sadr, a case that remains deeply sensitive in Lebanon. Before his abduction, Gaddafi had been living primarily in Syria with his family after fleeing Libya in 2011.
