Libyan ICC war crimes suspect arrested in Germany
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - German authorities have arrested a Libyan war crimes suspect accused of being a senior official at a notorious prison where inmates were routinely tortured and sometimes sexually abused, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Friday.
Khaled Mohamed Ali Al Hishri, alleged to have been a member of the Special Deterrence Force armed group during Libya's civil war, was arrested on Wednesday, German authorities said.
The ICC said he would remain in German custody, pending the completion of national proceedings.
Prosecutors at the ICC accuse Al Hishri of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, torture and rape from February 2015 until early 2020, a period during which he was allegedly one of the most senior officials in the Mitiga prison.
According to the prosecution, Mitiga was the largest detention facility in western Libya, where thousands of detainees were held in cramped cells without basic hygiene and were systematically subjected to brutal interrogations and torture.
Men and women held there also faced sexual violence including rape, the prosecution said.
It is a critical time for the ICC. Its prosecutor and four judges are facing U.S. sanctions in retaliation for an arrest warrant it issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. A number of European ICC member states, including Germany, have also criticised the warrant.
In addition to the sanctions, the ICC is also operating without its chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who stepped aside temporarily two months ago as he faced a probe by United Nations investigators into alleged sexual misconduct.
Khan denies the allegations, and his two deputy prosecutors are running the office in his absence.
In a statement on Friday, the office of the prosecutor said it expected Al Hishri to be transferred to The Hague and added that it stood ready to start his trial.
"This development is so needed at a time of unprecedented turmoil in the field of accountability generally and at the ICC specifically," Kip Hale, an attorney who documented crimes in Libya for the UN, told Reuters.
"Yet, it is most important for the victims of the many atrocity crimes committed at Mitiga prison," he added.
Italy arrested another Libyan ICC suspect, Osama Elmasry Njeem, in January but subsequently returned him to Tripoli, saying the arrest warrant contained mistakes and inaccuracies. He was also accused of crimes committed against detainees in Mitiga prison.
His release sparked outrage among Italian opposition parties and triggered a legal investigation into Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and several other government members.
The court has been investigating allegations of serious crimes committed in Libya since the outbreak of its civil war in 2011, following a referral by the UN Security Council. — Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
3 hours ago
- GMA Network
Torre vs. Baste set for Sunday at Rizal Memorial Coliseum —PNP chief says
A boxing showdown between the country's top cop, Police General Nicolas Torre III and acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte will take place this Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila. That's according to Torre himself, as he was asked by reporters on Thursday during his training for the "charity boxing."" 'Kung ready sila sa venue, I can show up. Pero naka-set na actually ang Rizal Memorial Coliseum. A ring has already been set up there para sa Sunday,' Torre said. This was Torre's response as he was asked about Senator Ping Lacson's social media post about an executive of a resort casino hotel who is supposedly willing to provide a venue for the match. GMA News Online has reached out to Duterte, but he has yet to reply as of posting time. Torre, meanwhile, also said there are already "sponsors" for the event. 'Whether he shows up or not, may mga sponsors na may nagsabi na magdo-donate na lang ng mga ayuda sa ating mga kababayan na nasalanta ng bagyo at baha,' Torre said. (Whether he shows up or not, there are sponsors who have said they will just donate aid to our countrymen affected by the tropical cyclones and flood.) 'Kung wala naman siya ay magdi-distribute na lang kami ng ayuda,' he added. (If he doesn't show up, we will just distribute assistance.) In a vlog uploaded on Youtube on Sunday, Duterte mentioned Torre and challenged him for a fistfight. 'Kasi matapang ka lang naman you have the position. Pero kung suntukan tayo alam kong makaya kita. But then you're a coward,' Duterte said. (You're brave because you have the position. But if we fight, I know I can handle you. But then you're a coward.) On March 11, Torre led the arrest of the acting mayor's father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, as Philippine authorities assisted Interpol in serving a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the older Duterte for crimes against humanity in connection with his drug war. —VAL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
17 hours ago
- GMA Network
US and EU close in on 15% tariff deal, FT reports
The EU and United States are closing in on a trade deal that would impose 15% tariffs on European imports, similar to the agreement US President Donald Trump struck with Japan this week, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Both the EU and US would waive tariffs on some products, including aircraft, spirits and medical devices, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The bloc will continue to prepare a possible €93-billion ($109-billion) package of retaliatory tariffs, set at up to 30 per cent, in case they cannot agree a deal by August 1, the report added. The White House and a spokesperson for the European Union did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the FT report. The Commission earlier said on Wednesday its primary focus was to achieve a negotiated outcome with the United States to avert 30% US tariffs that Trump has said he will impose on the 27-nation bloc on August 1. In 2024, the US imported more than $55 billion of vehicles and automotive parts from Japan. From the EU, the equivalent figure was €47.3 billion ($55.45 billion), with far fewer US models sold into the EU or Japanese market. — Reuters
GMA Network
18 hours ago
- GMA Network
ICC grants Duterte camp request, defers deciding on interim release
"The Majority emphasises that the present decision shall not be construed as prejudging any matter to be determined in the context of the proceedings related to the interim release request, including in its eventual decision thereon," the ICC ruling said. The International Criminal Court has granted the request of the camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte to suspend the tribunal's decision on his request for interim release until his defense lawyers have collated all the needed supporting information. In a majority decision, the Pre-Trial Chamber 1 deferred the issuance of a decision on the interim release request until further action is undertaken by the Defence on the matter, or until the Chamber deems it appropriate. According to the decision, Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera dissented against the ruling concurred in by presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou. The tribunal said that "interim release proceedings pursuant to article 60(2) of the Rome Statute may exclusively be triggered by the 'person subject to a warrant of arrest,' who preserves the right to submit a request for interim release, or not, at any point in time 'pending trial'." "Accordingly, and to ensure that a decision on the Interim Release Request is appropriately informed, the Majority considers it appropriate, in the circumstances, to defer the issuance of its decision on the interim release request until further action is undertaken by the defense on the matter, or until when the Chamber will deem it appropriate," the decision read. "The Majority emphasises that the present decision shall not be construed as prejudging any matter to be determined in the context of the proceedings related to the interim release request, including in its eventual decision thereon," it added. According to a redacted public copy of the defense's request before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, signed by Duterte's counsel, Atty. Nicholas Kaufman, filed on 14 July 2025 and made public on 18 July, the defense said the Pre-Trial Chamber should not make its first determination on interim release until certain materials, whose contents, according to them, were withheld in the public version, are made available to both the defense and the Chamber. 'At the time Mr Duterte's request for interim release was submitted on 12 June 2025, the Defence had been, for some time, seeking to obtain [REDACTED]… The Defence's attempts to obtain [REDACTED] over the course of two months have, for the most part, been slow-walked and stymied,' the filing read. The Duterte camp in June asked the ICC that he be released to a country, the name of which has been redacted from the copy of the urgent request for interim release posted on the ICC's website. According to the 16-page request, the undisclosed country has agreed to take in the former leader, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the killings under his war on drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and when he was president of the Philippines. "Mr. Duterte does not meet any of the conditions to warrant further pre-trial detention as provided in Article 58(1)(b). He does not pose an objective risk of flight, nor is his arrest necessary to ensure the integrity of the investigations or to preclude the continued commission of crimes. He must, as a result, be immediately released from ICC custody," Kaufman said in his request for Duterte's interim release. –Celine Serquña, Jay-Vee Pangan, Andy Peñafuerte/NB, GMA Integrated News
