This statement was delivered by Human Rights Watch at the 61st regular session of the UN Human Rights Council during the adoption of Libya Universal Periodic Review (UPR) outcome held on March 23, 2026.
Human Rights Watch welcomes Libya's acceptance of the majority of the recommendations.
However, we regret that Libya did not accept recommendations calling for stronger protections for freedom of expression and for repealing restrictive laws governing civil society organizations. Laws criminalizing speech, including vague provisions on defamation, insulting religion, and harming the state, have been used to silence critics. Threats and violence have forced many activists to flee the country.
Armed groups, smugglers, and state authorities in Libya have subjected migrants, including infants and young children, to arbitrary detention, extortion, forced labor, sexual violence, and other serious abuses. While Libya accepted recommendations to strengthen efforts to combat trafficking and improve protection for migrants, it rejected or noted recommendations calling for the closure of abusive migrant detention centers, the establishment of a fair asylum system, and ratification of the Refugee Convention.
Widespread arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment continue in facilities run by abusive armed groups and state-affiliated forces. Libya accepted recommendations on arbitrary detention and improving prison conditions but not recommendations to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and establish independent monitoring of detention facilities. Without independent oversight, these commitments risk remaining largely symbolic.
Libya accepted recommendations calling for stronger action to address violence against women but failed to accept key recommendations aimed at addressing the root causes of discrimination and violence, including calls to criminalize marital rape, allow women to pass nationality to their children on an equal basis with men, repeal discriminatory family laws, and remove provisions allowing perpetrators of rape to escape prosecution by marrying their victims.
Libya also rejected recommendations to decriminalize consensual same-sex relations between adults. These positions undermine progress toward equality and protection from violence and discrimination.
Human Rights Watch calls on Libyan authorities to implement meaningful reforms to protect fundamental freedoms, ensure accountability for abuses, and uphold Libya’s international human rights obligations.
