Law No. 10 of 2013 on the Criminalization of Torture, Forced Disappearance and Discrimination

Libya has a notorious history of systematic torture and cruel treatment. During the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, security agencies excessively used forms of torture to extract confessions from detainees and to intimidate and silence political opponents. Following the overthrow of Gaddafi, discrimination against racial minorities and vulnerable groups, enforced disappearance, and torture continued to be practiced by different actors, such as militias and armed groups, alongside the state agencies that have used torture as a tool to exert power and the continued reinforcement of a culture of intimidation. This practice has also affected migrant children who were subject to physical and psychological violence in detention centers.[1]

Law 10 of 2013 established the crime of enforced disappearance and addressed some deficiencies in the Penal Code regarding torture crimes that previously prevented holding perpetrators accountable. However, this law does not meet the minimum international standards, as it fails to adopt the international definitions of torture and enforced disappearance that are stipulated in the international conventions, which include other forms of criminal acts that are not addressed by the law.[2]

The implementation of the law faces significant challenges in achieving accountability and redress for victims due to various factors—including the lack of clarity regarding whether these crimes are subject to the statute of limitation and amnesty, the absence of an effective judiciary system, and arms proliferation across Libya—all of which complicate the pursuit of justice in the country

[1] In Kufra, for instance, during the raid of a suspected trafficker’s warehouse, the Department for Combating Illegal Migration found 231 immigrants crammed into the building, including 80 children whose bodies showed burns and marks from beatings by water hoses and sharp instruments. See “Migrant children face torture in Libya’s detention centres,” The New Arab, February 28, 2023, https://www.newarab.com/analysis/migrant-children-face-torture-libyas-detention-centres.

[2] The Libyan government adopted the Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on May 15, 1970, and May 16, 1989 respectively. Additionally, the Libyan government is subject to the jurisdiction of both the Human Right Committee and the African court or Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights after ratifying Optional Protocol I to the ICCPR by law No. 7 of 1989 and the adoption of the African charter on July 16, 1989 and its Protocol on November 19, 2003.