On 11 March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Libyan authorities to surrender suspects to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
HRW urged Libyan authorities to immediately surrender Osama Najeem aka al-Masri to the ICC which has charged the ‘senior member of the Deterrence Apparatus for Countering Terrorism and Organized Crime’, with crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Mitiga Prison since 2015. Although Najeem was reportedly arrested in Tripoli in November 2025, his whereabout remains unknown. Libya has taken no visible steps to transfer him to The Hague. HRW said this is a critical test of Libya’s willingness to cooperate with the court, especially as seven other ICC fugitives are also believed to be on Libyan territory. HRW emphasized that Libya is legally obliged to cooperate with the ICC under the 2011 UN Security Council referral, and that the country reaffirmed the court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed through 2027.
Yet Libyan authorities, including the Attorney General, have not responded to HRW’s inquiries about Najeem’s case or the status of other suspects. According to HRW, several other ICC fugitives remain at large, including Libyan National Army (LNA) officer Saif Suleiman Sneidel, who is believed to be in eastern Libya. HRW stressed that Libya’s broader justice system remains too fragmented and compromised to credibly handle serious crimes. Moreover, there are widespread abuses in detention centres run by armed groups nominally aligned with the state. HRW argued that Libya’s lack of cooperation with the ICC, combined with the end of UN fact‑finding oversight in 2023, has deepened impunity and stressed that senior Libyan officials have previously signaled opposition to extraditing nationals for trial abroad. Finally, HRW called on the UN Security Council and ICC member states to press Libya to hand over Najeem and other suspects, warning that more than 15 years after the ICC referral, grave abuses continue unchecked in Libyan prisons.