On 12 February, UNSMIL reiterated its alarm at the discovery of two mass graves in al-Wahat and Kufra, some with gunshot wounds. The victims had reportedly been held captive by traffickers for months and subjected to severe abuse and torture. Due to their irregular status, they were re-detained. UNSMIL called for their immediate release as part of a programme for alternatives to detention, along with access to vital services. It also called for a full investigation into the mass graves with perpetrators brought to justice. According to IOM, the grave may contain as many as 70 bodies.
On 14 February, the Attorney General’s Office said that the Kufra Primary Prosecution, with support from the Anti-Illegal Immigration Unit in the Southeast region, moved to the burial site of 58 bodies in Kufra as part of the investigation into the incidents attributed migrant smuggling and human trafficking organisations north of the city of Kufra. It said that a forensic medicine team consisting of 17 doctors working in the cities of Kufra, Benghazi and Tripoli directly undertook the task of extracting the bodies, conducting the postmortem examinations and collecting DNA samples from them.