Eastern Libya Executes 10 After Military Trials, Rights Groups Demand Records

Authorities in eastern Libya said on August 23, 2026, that they had executed 10 people by firing squad after military-court convictions, prompting Libyan and international rights groups to demand records and an independent investigation.

The eastern military prosecutor said the convictions involved membership in terrorist or prohibited organizations and assassinations targeting military personnel and civilians. The office said all legal procedures had been completed.

But the announcement did not name the defendants, publish the full judgments, identify the execution date or location, or show whether appeals, pardon requests or sentence-commutation procedures had been available and exhausted. Those omissions leave the executions themselves reported by multiple sources while key details about the cases remain unresolved.

What is confirmed — and what is not

The Associated Press independently reported the announcement, the firing-squad method and the role of the military prosecutor’s office affiliated with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, which controls much of eastern and southern Libya. AP also reported immediate condemnation from Libyan rights bodies.

AP reported local accounts placing the executions at Qarnada military prison in Shahat and saying families were notified to collect bodies from a hospital in Benghazi. Those locations and the notification process have not been independently established in the public record.

The central unresolved question is therefore not simply whether eastern authorities announced executions. It is whether the defendants received proceedings that can be independently reviewed and whether fair-trial safeguards were provided before the sentences were carried out.

Rights groups question the missing records

Libya Crimes Watch said the Military Prosecutor General’s Office had not disclosed enough information to verify the defendants’ identities, whether they were civilians or military personnel, their access to lawyers and case files, the status of appeals, or whether pardon or commutation opportunities existed.

The organization also said some families were not notified in advance of the executions or their scheduled date and were later asked to collect the bodies. That account is attributed to Libya Crimes Watch and has not been fully independently verified.

Libya Crimes Watch said the prosecutor’s assertion that legal procedures had been completed does not by itself establish that the trials were fair. The distinction is important: compliance with a domestic procedure is not the same as a publicly reviewable showing that defendants received counsel, access to evidence, an effective appeal and other due-process protections.

New claims about civilian defendants

In a follow-up dated August 26, 2026, Lawyers for Justice in Libya said local human-rights organizations had identified nine of the 10 executed men as civilians. The organization also emphasized that the identities, locations and circumstances remained incompletely confirmed.

The official announcement did not disclose the defendants’ status, so the public record does not establish that all 10 were civilians. Reports referring to Garnada or Qarnada prison near Shahat, and to facilities or body collection in Benghazi, should likewise remain attributed accounts rather than confirmed locations and procedures.

Why Libya’s divided institutions matter

Libya remains divided between rival political and security authorities in the east and west. That division, combined with the influence of military bodies over detention and prosecution in areas they control, can make it difficult for families, lawyers and outside monitors to obtain judgments, inspect case files or establish which institution handled an appeal or clemency request.

During a July 28 visit to Benghazi, the U.N. Support Mission in Libya highlighted broader concerns about arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, denial of due process, detention reform and the need for a unified and independent judiciary. The mission’s statement was broader than the August executions and did not specifically condemn this case.

Amnesty International has also documented Libya’s continued use of the death penalty and described unfair-trial and military-court concerns in its reporting on the country.

For now, the most important unanswered questions are the names of the 10 people, the judgments and evidence against them, the availability and outcome of appeals, the execution locations, and whether families received timely notice. Publishing those records would allow Libyan authorities’ account to be tested rather than accepted or rejected solely through competing statements.

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