Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, a Libyan prison chief, appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday and stands accused of six counts of war crimes and six counts of crimes against humanity.

These charges ranged from February 2015 to early 2020, regarding his role at the Mitiga prison near Tripoli. The description of his crimes includes overseeing torture, rape, sexual violence, and murder during his time as a senior official at the prison, as the ICC  believes Mr. El Hishri attempted to murder a detainee.

Mr. El Hishri was arrested by German authorities on July 16, 2025, following the issue of an arrest warrant by the ICC six days beforehand. His arrest is the first in a wider investigation by the ICC into Libya, which began in 2011.

The court alleges that El Hishri engaged in “personally torturing, mistreating, sexually abusing and killing detainees” and “exercised his authority over all Mitiga prison staff and detainees.”

ICC judges further allege that five detainees, one of whom was a 15-year-old boy, were raped by guards and other prisoners during El Hishri’s time there. The court alleges that women prisoners were victims of sexual abuse also.

International Justice Program Director at Human Rights Watch, Liz Evenson said:

El Hishri’s transfer to the ICC marks an important moment for international justice in Libya, after decades in which armed groups committed serious abuses, including in migrant detention centers and prisons, with impunity. El Hishri’s arrest on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity will bring into the light the horrific abuses taking place behind the locked doors of Libya’s prisons. Germany’s cooperation shows that when states fulfill their obligations to cooperate with the court, justice has a chance. All ICC countries should make clear they stand ready to carry out the court’s warrants across its global docket.

The presiding judge, Iulia Motoc, said the court had received an email earlier from El Hishri’s defense team applying for an interim release. During the course of the investigation, El Hishri said he had no observations and just requested release. Motoc said the next phase of proceedings, which is a confirmation of charges hearing, will take place 19 May, 2026.

The court wishes to pursue other relevant arrests concerning crimes against humanity in Libya, such as Osama Elmasry Njeem, head of Libya’s judicial police, based on charges relating to alleged crimes at the Mitiga prison. Though he was arrested in Italy earlier in 2025, he was released on procedural grounds and sent to Libya as opposed to being surrendered to the ICC.

Despite not being a state party to the Rome Statute, the Libyan government formally accepted jurisdiction of the ICC of its territory from 2011 to 2027 in May 2025.