3 December 2025 – We, the undersigned civil society organizations, welcome the 1 December 2025 surrender of Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, also known as “Al-Buti,” by German authorities to the International Criminal Court (ICC). His transfer marks the first time a suspect of international crimes committed in Libya has been brought before the Court since the Libya investigation was opened following the UN Security Council referral in 2011. This marks an important step toward justice, truth and reparation for victims of grave crimes committed across Libya.
.هذا البيان متوفر باللغة العربية أيضاً
El Hishri was arrested in Berlin on 16 July 2025 pursuant to an ICC warrant. He is a senior member of the Special Deterrence Force for Combatting Terrorism and Organized Crime (SDF), also known as “Al-Radaa,” under the Libyan Presidential Council. This powerful militia operates detention sites in western Libya, including Mitiga Prison in Tripoli, where El Hishri allegedly served as a senior official. According to the ICC warrant of arrest made public in July 2025, he is suspected of committing or overseeing crimes against humanity and war crimes between 2015 and early 2020. These crimes include murder, torture, cruel treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, and outrages upon personal dignity.
Germany’s cooperation demonstrates the essential role that States Parties play in enabling the ICC to fulfill its mandate. It reaffirms that Germany and all States Parties must fully comply with their obligations under the Rome Statute, including executing ICC arrest warrants, with the same standard of consistency in all situations before the Court. As proceedings begin in The Hague, it is crucial that the charges reflect the full range of crimes alleged and all victim groups affected; that victims can participate meaningfully and safely at every stage; and that all relevant authorities uphold their cooperation obligations.
A decisive moment: accountability requires meaningful recognition of all victim groups
With El Hishri now in ICC custody, the proceedings enter a decisive phase. After his initial appearance, the Office of the Prosecutor will submit a detailed document containing the charges and determining which crimes and which groups of victims the case will cover. This filing will shape the confirmation of charges hearing and the future trial.
The arrest warrant issued on 10 July 2025 reflects a narrow understanding of the contextual elements of both crimes against humanity and war crimes. That limitation originated partly from the Prosecution’s own Application, which described the “civilian population” affected by crimes at Mitiga as individuals perceived to be opposing SDF/Al-Radaa or its ideology. The Pre-Trial Chamber further restricted the scope, excluding sub-Saharan African detainees on the basis that their detention was linked to their migrant status. The Office of the Prosecutor challenged this reasoning, but the Appeals Chamber declined to review it on procedural grounds.
It is therefore essential that the Prosecutor expands the charges to capture the full range of crimes alleged and all affected groups of victims. The longstanding failure to properly address crimes against migrants and refugees in the Libya investigation must not be repeated in this important first case.
Meaningful participation of victims must guide the process
Broadening the scope of charges is only part of ensuring justice. Victims must be able to participate meaningfully in the proceedings. As the ICC prepares its first case arising from the Libya Situation, 14 years after the start of the investigation, victim participation will be central to ensuring the proceedings are fair and reflect the gravity of the crimes suffered.
Survivors face significant risks and obstacles to accessing justice, whether inside Libya or abroad. The Court must adopt proactive, protection-sensitive, and gender-responsive approaches to outreach and participation. All victims must be able to apply for participation regardless of nationality, location, or language, and must have access to proper and effective legal representation during all stages of the proceedings.
Accountability depends on cooperation by Libyan authorities and ICC States Parties
For over a decade, civilians across Libya, including human rights defenders, journalists, political opponents, migrants, and refugees, have faced widespread and systematic violations and abuses by state authorities, affiliated militias and armed groups. Arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, sexual and gender-based violence, enslavement, forced labor, persecution, and other serious crimes continue in eastern and western Libya. These patterns demonstrate the urgent need for sustained ICC engagement.
Successive Libyan authorities in the country’s east and west have failed to cooperate with the ICC while allowing those suspected of criminal responsibility to operate with impunity. Libya’s judicial institutions remain fragmented and constrained by political and security pressures, and subject to intimidation or reprisals, notably from militias and armed groups. As a result, domestic courts remain unable to deliver justice for serious crimes. ICC proceedings, therefore, remain essential for accountability.
Libyan authorities and all ICC States Parties must fulfill their legal cooperation obligations without exception. Libya is required to cooperate under Security Council Resolution 1970 and under the Government of National Unity’s own Article 12(3) declaration of May 2025, accepting ICC jurisdiction until the end of 2027. States Parties must execute arrest warrants and support the Court’s work. Germany’s transfer of El Hishri shows how cooperation with the ICC should function, though its public position that it would not enforce certain other ICC arrest warrants stands in tension with this example. In contrast, Italy’s failure to surrender Osama Elmasry Njeem in January 2025 following his arrest on an ICC warrant, which has now been formally confirmed by the Court as a breach of its Rome Statute obligations, undermined accountability and reinforced impunity. As the ICC faces unprecedented external pressure, including sanctions and threats for carrying out its mandate, strong and principled support from all States is more important than ever.
A call to advance justice in the Libya Situation
El Hishri’s surrender is an important step toward justice, truth and reparation. The next stages must be grounded in an inclusive understanding of the crimes committed and the victims harmed. We call on the ICC to ensure that the charges reflect the full range of crimes alleged and all affected groups of victims, and that victims can participate meaningfully and safely at all stages of the proceedings. We also call on Libya and all States Parties to ensure that all cooperation obligations under international law are fully respected. We stand in solidarity with all survivors and remain committed to supporting accountability efforts across Libya.
Signatories
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
Free #ElHiblu3 campaign
Global Initiative Against Impunity (GIAI)
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL)
Libya Crimes Watch (LCW)
MEDITERRANEA Saving Humans
MV Louise Michel project
Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)
Refugees in Libya (RIL)
Resqship e.V.
Sea Punks e.V.
Sea-Watch e.V.
TRIAL International
WatchTheMed Alarm Phone
