The International Criminal Court (ICC) has warned that crimes committed against migrants in Libya can no longer remain shielded by impunity, urging unified international action to confront a decade of systematic abuse.
Addressing the UN Security Council in New York, ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said that migrant detention centers in Libya have long been “closed zones for justice,” where killings, torture, rape, and other severe violations occurred with no fear of accountability.
Khan told the Council that perpetrators inside these facilities operated for years with the certainty that they were beyond the reach of the law—fueling brutality against both migrants and Libyans. She stressed, however, that this environment of unchecked abuse is beginning to erode.
A major turning point, she said, was the July arrest of Khaled Mohamed Ali Al-Haishri by German authorities acting on an ICC warrant. Al-Haishri is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed inside Mitiga Prison between 2015 and 2020, including murder, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence against detainees.
He is expected to become the first individual tried by the ICC for crimes committed in Libya under UN Security Council Resolution 1970. Khan noted that additional suspects are already under coordinated international investigation.
She also highlighted growing cooperation from Libyan authorities, pointing to a recent declaration by the Government of National Unity formally accepting ICC jurisdiction over specific crimes. Khan described the move as a politically significant gesture from a country still fractured by armed conflict, and said she hopes it signals the end of Libya as a safe haven for human traffickers, militia leaders, and those involved in grave violations.
Despite these advances, Khan warned that the ICC is facing “unprecedented obstacles,” including U.S. sanctions imposed on the Court and some of its officials over investigations involving American or Israeli nationals. Such measures, she said, hinder global justice efforts and embolden individuals who rely on impunity in Libya and elsewhere.
She concluded that only sustained cooperation among states, UN bodies, and Libyan institutions can ensure justice for migrants and Libyan victims and dismantle the entrenched networks responsible for years of abuse.
