01-06-2025
Libyan rights activist: Mitiga prison visit was 'theatrical,' involved suspicious figures
Libyan human rights activist and head of the 'Victims for Human Rights Organization,' Nasser Al-Hawari, has criticized a recent visit organized by the Mitiga Prison administration and the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), describing it as a staged event orchestrated by the Deterrence Apparatus and the NHRI.
In a Facebook post, Al-Hawari accused the NHRI of colluding with the Deterrence Apparatus to whitewash its image before the public.
He also alleged that the visit included participation by suspicious individuals, notably NHRI member Adel Hammouda, whom he accused of supporting the Radaa (Deterrence) Apparatus. Al-Hawari claimed Hammouda had previously appeared in a protest in Ain Zara reading a statement against the Government of National Unity.
Al-Hawari further revealed that a man named Mohamed Sakhr accompanied the NHRI delegation during their prison tour and inmate visits, despite reportedly having been sentenced to 14 years in prison for running an alcohol factory. According to Al-Hawari, Sakhr was later pardoned by Radaa chief Abdelraouf Kara and now heads the inmate affairs office at Mitiga Prison. Al-Hawari claimed this was part of a broader trend of integrating convicted criminals into the apparatus in exchange for reduced sentences.
He called on the NHRI to refrain from exploiting the cases of detainees and the unjustly imprisoned for political or institutional gain.
The NHRI had earlier announced that its team, alongside the Human Rights Committee of the High Council of State, conducted an inspection visit to the Tripoli Main Correction and Rehabilitation Facility and Mitiga Prison — an initiative it described as the first of its kind. Tags: Human Rights Mitiga prison
