Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague have issued a unanimous decision to send a Libyan national to trial on 17 charges, including murder, rape, and the torture of detainees. The ruling marks the first time the global court has initiated a trial specifically focused on crimes committed in Libya. The suspect, Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, is alleged to have committed these abuses at the Mitiga prison facility between 2014 and 2020.
The court's decision follows a hearing held in May, during which prosecutors presented evidence detailing the conditions at the prison. Judges concluded that there are substantial grounds to believe El Hishri is responsible for the crimes described. According to the charges, El Hishri served as a senior commander at the detention center, specifically overseeing the women’s section. Prosecutors noted that the scale of sexual violence within the facility and his alleged brutality led to him being referred to as the “Angel of Death.”
Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan described the ruling as a significant milestone, stating that it moves the court closer to providing justice for the thousands of victims who suffered from unlawful arrest, detention, and abuse at Mitiga prison. While the suspect's defense attorney, Yasser Hassan, argued that the court lacked jurisdiction, judges rejected this claim in a separate ruling earlier this week.
El Hishri was arrested in Germany in July on a sealed ICC warrant and subsequently transferred to the Netherlands in December. While no start date for the trial has been established, the proceedings highlight the court's ongoing involvement in Libya, which began after the 2011 U.N. Security Council mandate following the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi. Although the ICC previously issued a warrant for Gadhafi, he was killed by rebels prior to his capture.
The court's activities have recently drawn intense scrutiny from the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Monday that the U.S. is launching a campaign to dismantle the ICC’s influence, citing threats to U.S. sovereignty. Rubio stated that the U.S. intends to pressure the court’s 125 member states to withdraw, while also planning to sanction organizations that collaborate with the court and restrict staff travel. These tensions follow previous sanctions imposed by the Trump administration against Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan and other staff members in response to ICC investigations regarding U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and Israeli officials concerning the war in Gaza.
