Libya: the arrest of Senior Commander Al Buti raises hopes for justice and accountability in Libya

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On Wednesday 16 July 2025, the German authorities arrested Mr Khaled Mohamed Ali Al Hishri, also known as Al Buti, following a sealed arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (the ICC or the Court) on 10 July 2025 for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, committed between early 2015 and 2020 in prisons in Libya. Al Buti is one of the most senior officials of the Special Deterrence Forces armed group, also known as SDF or Rada, which controls the Mitiga prison. Al Buti was also responsible for the women section in the prison.

Al Buti is currently in custody in Germany awaiting the finalisation of the national procedure, to be transferred to The Hague, to stand trial before the ICC.

LFJL welcomes this development which can be an important step towards ending impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya.  We commend the German authorities for their positive cooperation with the ICC in ensuring a swift arrest of the suspect while present in Germany, in accordance with Germany’s obligations under the Rome Statute of the ICC.  

This could lead to the first trial of an alleged perpetrator for international crimes committed in Libya since the ICC started its investigations in 2011.  

According to one of LFJL's partners working in Libya with victims of international crimes:

“The arrest of Khaled Al-Hishri represents a moment of profound significance for victims of grave violations in Libya, particularly those at Mitiga Prison.

Victims and their families, particularly mothers who lost their children or were unable to access their bodies, have long felt that justice was distant, even impossible. This feeling was reinforced by the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators, who were protected by militias or obtained diplomatic passports, as was the case with Khaled Al-Hishri.

This arrest restores a measure of dignity to those who were subjected to systematic torture, sexual violence, and forced confinement, and pushes toward public recognition that what happened were not “individual transgressions,” but rather systematic crimes that deserve international accountability.

This is a rare moment of recognition, and we hope it will not be isolated, but rather open the door to the surrender and prosecution of the remaining perpetrators of grave crimes, most notably members of the Al-Kani militia, some of whom remain detained by the Deterrence Force in Tripoli without any real accountability or independent and transparent judicial procedures.

For the victims, this arrest does not end the pain, but it sends a clear message: impunity is not fate, and the voices of victims cannot be ignored forever.”

Libyan partner

LFJL continues to support the efforts of the ICC and work towards safeguarding victims’ rights before the Court.

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