ICC office calls confirmation hearing for Khalid Mohammed Ali Elhissri a 'landmark' step, urges Libya to execute arrest warrants

An official from the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court told the United Nations Security Council that a recent confirmation hearing for Khalid Mohammed Ali Elhissri represented a “landmark” step toward accountability and called on Libyan authorities to carry out outstanding arrest warrants.

The official said Elhissri is accused of 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed principally at Matiga Prison, including in the prison’s women’s section. “Over 3 days, Mr. Elhissri faced the accounts, the voices of many Libyans directly affected by his alleged crimes,” the speaker said.

Why it matters: The Office of the Prosecutor said the hearing — the first judicial proceeding stemming from the Security Council’s referral of the Libya situation — put victims’ testimony before a court and could lead to a prompt trial if charges are confirmed.

The briefing summarized victims’ testimony that described “being shot and whipped, of being suspended from the ceiling, dragged by their hair, raped and beaten until they bled,” and detailed allegations that Black African migrants were enslaved and subjected to extreme physical, psychological and reproductive violence. The official said Matiga was not a normal prison but “a system designed to inflict extreme pain, deep humiliation, and ultimately, to destroy the lives of those detained,” and placed Elhissri “at the center of this abuse.”

The office emphasized the role of victims and civil society in bringing the Matiga story to light. The official said the office recorded over 186 engagements with civil‑society organizations during the reporting period and took part in a virtual roundtable attended by more than 35 organizations, calling that collaboration “a core pillar” of the investigations.

Investigations and domestic cooperation: The briefing said the ICC’s Libya Unified Team is collecting evidence across locations in Libya related to operations in February 2020 and extending accountability efforts for crimes committed in detention facilities in both west and east Libya. The official reported that nine public arrest warrants in the situation currently await execution and urged improved communication and stronger action from Libyan authorities to effect arrests, warning that failure to act would breach the council’s mandate.

The official cited concrete cooperation with national authorities and Europol that has aided domestic prosecutions. He said that on Jan. 27, Tewelde Gautam, an Eritrean national, was convicted in a Dutch district court and sentenced to 20 years for human smuggling and extortion of migrants and refugees in Libya; a second defendant, Kidane Zacharias Haptamariyam, was expedited from the United Arab Emirates to the Netherlands to stand trial.

Legal and political context: The speaker noted Libya’s Article 12(3) declaration under the Rome Statute, made to the court last year, and said the declaration has improved cooperation and led the office to extend key lines of inquiry through the end of 2027. He framed the ICC’s work in tandem with Libyan authorities and civil society as reducing the space for atrocities and strengthening stability under Security Council resolution 1970.

Praise and warnings: The official commended Mohammed el‑Menfi, president of the Presidential Council of Libya; Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, prime minister of Libya; and Zaid Dagim, Libya’s ambassador to the Netherlands, for cooperative roles. He also warned that cooperation across Libyan authorities is uneven: “With real steps forward... in others, we have seen stagnation or even regression,” he said, urging that arrests be carried out where suspects are known to remain in Libya.

What happens next: The confirmation hearing has concluded; the office said that if charges are confirmed it stands ready to commence trial promptly. The official closed by urging all states to support the office’s work so that victims may see the hope expressed over the last days translated into vindicated rights.

Quotes used in this article are drawn verbatim from the briefing to the Security Council and are attributed to an official speaking for the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.