Reports

No Escape from Hell

EU Policies Contribute to Abuse of Migrants in Libya

This report documents severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of adequate health care. Human Rights Watch found violent abuse by guards in four official detention centers in western Libya, including beatings and whippings. Human Rights Watch witnessed large numbers of children, including newborns, detained in grossly unsuitable conditions in three out of the four detention centers. Almost 20 percent of those who reached Europe by sea from Libya in 2018 were children. 

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  • “We Feel We Are Cursed”

    Life under ISIS in Sirte, Libya

    The report, “‘We Feel We Are Cursed’: Life under ISIS in Sirte, Libya,” also finds that ISIS is inflicting severe hardship on the local population by diverting food, medicine, fuel, and cash, along with homes it seized from residents who fled, to fighters and functionaries it has amassed in the Mediterranean port city.

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  • The Endless Wait

    Long-Term Arbitrary Detentions and Torture in Western Libya

    The 34-page report, “The Endless Wait: Long-Term Arbitrary Detentions and Torture in Western Libya,” documents long-term arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment in four prisons in Tripoli and Misrata that are administered by the Judicial Police and controlled by the Justice Ministry of the Tripoli-based s

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  • The Mediterranean Migration Crisis

    Why People Flee, What the EU Should Do

    The 33-page report documents the human rights abuses driving people to make the dangerous sea crossing and the shortcomings of EU migration and asylum policies.

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  • War on the Media

    Journalists under Attack in Libya

    This 54-page report says that authorities failed to hold anyone accountable for attacks on journalists and media outlets since 2012, most of which were committed by non-state actors.

  • Priorities for Legislative Reform

    A Human Rights Roadmap for a New Libya

    In this 69-page report, Human Rights Watch calls on Libya to press forward with legislative reforms, making abolishing the death penalty for more than 30 crimes the top priority.

  • A Revolution for All

    Women’s Rights in the New Libya

    This 40-page report highlights key steps that Libya should take to meet its international obligations by firmly rejecting gender-based discrimination in both law and practice.

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  • Death of a Dictator

    Bloody Vengeance in Sirte

    This 58-page report details the final hours of Muammar Gaddafi’s life and the circumstances under which he was killed. It presents evidence that Misrata-based militias captured and disarmed members of the Gaddafi convoy and, after bringing them under their total control, subjected them to brutal beatings.

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  • Delivered Into Enemy Hands

    US-Led Abuse and Rendition of Opponents to Gaddafi’s Libya

    This report is based on interviews conducted in Libya with 14 former detainees, most of whom belonged to an armed Islamist group that had worked to overthrow Gaddafi for 20 years. Many members of the group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), joined the NATO-backed anti-Gaddafi rebels in the 2011 conflict.

  • Unacknowledged Deaths

    Civilian Casualties in NATO’s Air Campaign in Libya

    <p>This report examines in detail eight NATO air strikes in Libya that resulted in 72 civilian deaths, including 20 women and 24 children.

  • Truth and Justice Can’t Wait

    Human Rights Developments in Libya Amid Institutional Obstacles

    This 78-page report is based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch during a 10-day visit to Libya in April, 2009. The report is also based on ongoing monitoring from outside the country.

  • Pushed Back, Pushed Around

    Italy's Forced Return of Boat Migrants and Asylum Seekers, Libya's Mistreatment of Migrants and Asylum Seekers

    This 92-page report examines the treatment of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Libya through the eyes of those who have managed to leave and are now in Italy and Malta.

  • Libya: Rights at Risk

    Despite modest improvements in recent years, Libyans and foreign residents in Libya continue to suffer from serious violations of human rights. Below is a selection of the key human rights issues in Libya, as documented by Human Rights Watch. The material is based primarily on three visits to Libya since 2005.

  • Off the Record

    U.S. Responsibility for Enforced Disappearances in the “War on Terror”

    This 21-page briefing paper, published by six leading human rights organizations, includes the names and details of 39 people who are believed to have been held in secret US custody abroad and whose current whereabouts remain unknown.

  • Stemming the Flow

    Abuses Against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees

    This 135-page report documents how Libyan authorities have arbitrarily arrested undocumented foreigners, mistreated them in detention, and forcibly returned them to co