Report on Violations of Fair Trial Guarantees Against Sub-Saharan Migrants in Libya
Prepared by: Adala for All Association
Geographic Scope: Sebha, Southern Libya, and Court of Appeals of Tripoli, Criminal Circuits
Affected Groups: Migrants and non-Libyans, particularly Sub-Saharan migrants
Information Sources: This report is based on field information monitored by the Adala for All Association. In addition, the association monitored court sessions and documented postponement cases and practical observations on the conditions of migrants in the criminal justice process.
I: Executive Summary
II: Methodology and Information Sources
III: International Legal Framework
IV: Documented Violation Patterns
Lack of Translation
Inadequate Legal Assistance
Prolonged Pretrial Detention and Postponed Trials
Difficulty in Proving Identity and Age
Difficulty in Tracking Foreigners' Files
V: Indicators of Discrimination in Effect
VI: Broader Context of Hate Speech and Racism Against Black Migrants
VII: Exemplary Cases from the Court of Appeals of Tripoli
VIII: Field Statements from Specialists on the Trajectory of Violations (From Arrest to Court)
IX: Conclusions
X: Recommendations
1. To the Libyan Authorities
2. To the Supreme Judicial Council and Public Prosecution
3. To Lawyer Unions and Civil Society Organisations
4. To the Special Rapporteur on Migrants' Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Xenophobia
I: Executive Summary
This report documents a recurring pattern of violations affecting Sub-Saharan migrants and other non-Libyan defendants within the criminal justice process in Libya. These violations begin at the arrest and interrogation stage, extend to investigation before the Public Prosecution, and continue through trial sessions.
The most common violations include lack of translation, inadequate legal assistance, frequent session postponements, and prolonged pretrial detention without judicial resolution. These violations are evident in Sebha and several criminal circuits at the Court of Appeals of Tripoli.
Field information indicates that the impact of these disparities falls more severely on Sub-Saharan migrants due to language barriers, repeated errors in writing non-Arabic names, the difficulty in accessing information on foreign nationals' cases, and fear of documenting these cases or requesting information about them amid public discourse linking the defence of migrants' rights to the issue of "settlement."
Although the report does not conclude that there is necessarily an official policy targeting this group, it documents patterns of practice that disproportionately impact African migrants and non-Arabic speakers, and require urgent intervention by Libyan authorities and follow-up by relevant United Nations mechanisms.
II: Methodology and Information Sources
This report relies on field data monitored by the Adala for All Association in its follow up on the cases of migrants and non-Libyans, along with observations extracted from attending or monitoring court sessions, recording postponement reasons and detention periods, and practical difficulties facing foreign defendants within the judicial system.
Information sources relied upon in preparing the report include:
Field monitoring on the ground in Sebha and its surroundings
Monitoring sessions before criminal circuits at the Court of Appeals of Tripoli
Table of trial delay cases, including case numbers, circuits, reasons for postponement, and session dates
Practical statements regarding lack of translation and legal assistance
Documentary observations on difficulties tracking foreigners' cases and errors in writing non-Arabic names.
The report relies on qualitative analysis of recurring patterns rather than a comprehensive count of all cases. Therefore, the cases presented are exemplary, reflecting a broader pattern that requires official investigation and institutional action.
III: International Legal Framework
The documented facts are subject to Libya's binding international obligations related to protecting the right to liberty and security of person, fair trial guarantees and equality before the courts, prohibition of discrimination, protection of children in contact with the law, and prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. These obligations are particularly important in cases where parties are migrants or non-Arabic speakers, because guarantees of understanding and effective participation in proceedings—especially translation, enabling defence, and resolution within a reasonable time—are not only formal guarantees but also essential conditions for the validity of the trial.
The prohibition of discrimination extends not only to declared policies but also includes discrimination “in effect" when procedures or administrative loopholes lead to unequal results for a particular group, such as Sub-Saharan migrants. In cases where age is questionable due to the absence of documents, international standards require the application of special guarantees for children and juveniles, including considering deprivation of liberty as a last resort and for the shortest possible duration, ensuring reporting in a language the child understands, and providing legal assistance and translation when needed.
Finally, risks of ill-treatment are raised by long detention periods, lack of transparency, and lawyers’ difficulty in accessing case information. These issues require the application of obligations related to preventing torture, investigating allegations thereof, and ensuring effective oversight of detention places.
IV: Documented Violation Patterns
Lack of Translation
Information monitored by lawyers on the ground indicates a severe shortage of translators, especially for Hausa and Swahili languages in Sebha. This shortage is not limited to trial sessions; it extends to arrest, interrogation, and investigation stages before the Public Prosecution.
The lack of translation prevents the defendant from understanding the reason for the arrest, the nature of the charges, the content of questions directed at them, and the procedures taken against them. It also obstructs their ability to communicate with their lawyer or provide an effective defence.
This shortage also causes session postponements when translators are absent, leading to prolonged detention periods, particularly when the defendant has been detained for a long time.
Inadequate Legal Assistance
Adala for All Association monitored a clear shortage in the public defence system in southern Libya, especially in Sebha. This will likely lead to misdemeanour and violation cases involving migrants being heard without a lawyer present or without an effective defence.
Although the situation for felony cases seems relatively better due to the provision of lawyers before appellate courts, this does not address the problem in misdemeanour and violation cases, which may result in deprivation-of-liberty penalties or serious consequences for the migrant's legal status.
The impact of an absent or inadequate defence increases when coupled with the absence of translation, because the defendant in this case neither understands the procedures nor possesses an effective means to object or defend.
Prolonged Pretrial Detention and Postponed Trials
The report documents the repeated postponement of cases before the Court of Appeals of Tripoli, based on information provided by lawyers following these cases. The reasons behind postponements are often linked to the failure of detention authorities to bring defendants to the court or to the absence of translators.
This pattern of postponement is dangerous because it shifts the consequences of administrative failure onto the detained defendant, who bears the consequences of a translator's absence or not being transferred to court, even though this is not within their responsibility. As a result of these postponements, defendants remain imprisoned for months or years without a judicial resolution.
This situation may violate the defendant’s rights to liberty and to a trial within a reasonable time. A defendant should not be subjected to prolonged detention without effective judicial review.
Difficulty in Proving Identity and Age
Issues related to determining the ages of children or juveniles without official documents were monitored. These issues include the failure to conduct regular social investigations and the failure to refer some cases to forensic medicine when needed.
For migrants, this issue is especially salient, as many do not carry documented proof. The absence of accurate procedures to verify age may lead to children or juveniles being treated as adults and thus deprived of the special guarantees for children in contact with the law.
Difficulty in Tracking Foreigners' Files
Field information indicates systematic difficulties in accessing information concerning foreigners' cases compared to other defendants. These difficulties include :
Difficulty in determining the detainee's place of detention or case status
Repeated errors in writing non-Arabic names
Different spellings of the name between one record and another or between one authority and another
Fear among some lawyers or defenders in regards to requesting information about migrants' cases due to the sensitivity of the "no to settlement" discourse.
These difficulties obstruct the ability of defence lawyers, defendants’ families, and human rights bodies' to follow the file, potentially causing missed deadlines or lost defence opportunities.
V: Indicators of Discrimination in Effect
The report does not conclude that there is necessarily an official policy targeting Sub-Saharan migrants. Nevertheless, information monitored by lawyers on the ground indicates that the convergence of the aforementioned factors has a disproportionate impact on this group.
A non-Arabic speaking migrant enters Libya’s justice system with barriers of language and weak or inadequate defence. They then face increased difficulty in tracking their case file on top of repeated postponements, weakening their position in relation to others within the justice system.
Thus, the issue is not solely attributable to resource shortage but extends to tangible discriminatory impacts, particularly when affected groups are African migrants or non-Arabic speakers.
VI: Broader Context of Hate Speech and Racism Against Black Migrants
The practices monitored within the criminal justice process cannot be isolated from the broader context witnessed in Libya and the region during the recent period, consisting of escalating hate speech, racism, and xenophobia against migrants, particularly black and Sub-Saharan migrants.
We have monitored widespread patterns of violations faced by migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Libya, including arbitrary detention, exploitation, violence, and ill-treatment, in an environment characterised by impunity and institutional fragility. A joint report issued by the UN Support Mission in Libya and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights indicated that violations against migrants in Libya during 2024 and 2025 are not isolated incidents but constitute a broad and systematic pattern.
In this context, inadequate legal assistance and the absence of translation, difficulty tracking foreigners' files, and prolonged pretrial detention become more than just administrative failures or resource shortages. These practices occur within a general climate allowing normalisation of discriminatory treatment against black migrants, depriving them of basic procedural guarantees and making them more exposed to institutional neglect.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has previously indicated that Sub-Saharan migrants in Libya face racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia, and that these practices are influenced by discourses holding them responsible for wider social or security problems.
This context becomes more dangerous when public discourse links the presence of black migrants to concerns about "settlement" or "changing demographic composition," potentially creating a hostile environment that affects not only how society treats them, but how institutions treat them; including how law enforcement and judicial authorities handle migrants’ cases and rights.
Accordingly, the violations documented in this report should not be treated as separate cases or isolated procedural errors. They are part of a broader hostile environment requiring Libyan authorities to take clear measures to combat hate speech and racism against black migrants, with the aim of ensuring that racist discourses do not reflect on their right to justice, liberty, defence, and equality before the law.
VII: Exemplary Cases from the Court of Appeals of Tripoli
The following cases were monitored on the ground and reflect a recurring pattern of postponements linked to translator absence or the failure of detention authorities to bring defendants before the court:
VIII: Field Statements from Specialists on the Trajectory of Violations (From Arrest to Court)
In addition to the information monitored, the association received field statements from specialists working on migrants' cases in the south, who converged in describing a pattern of violations starting from the moment of arrest and continuing through trial sessions. Statements indicate that some migrants are detained upon arrest in places unsuitable for human habitation, and that investigations may be conducted without a translator present. As a result, detainees do not understand the content and nature of the charges against them, and sign records or paperwork that they do not understand. It is further indicated that enforcement authorities may prolong detention beyond the legally permissible period, with referral to the Public Prosecution occurring after varying periods that at times reach or exceed a week.
When migrants are brought to the prosecution, they may be subjected to ill-treatment, including humiliating presentation such as being brought to court without shoes, and with indications of some being beaten, as supported by documented statements and allegations. At the Public Prosecution stage, despite some attempts to provide translators, the absence of actual legal assistance persists in many cases, where the defendant is often not provided with a lawyer to accompany them, and their rights are not explained appropriately, thereby exacerbating their feeling of vulnerability and alienation and undermining defence capacity.
When cases are referred to court, two recurring problems emerge, according to statements: the first is that defendants are not brought from prison to attend the court sessions, and the second is that non-Arabic-speaking defendants may have their cases postponed for more than one session while waiting for a translator. As for misdemeanour and violation sessions in particular, statements confirm that migrants often face their fate alone without effective defence, despite relative improvement in some felony circuits where legal representation has become increasingly regular.
The aforementioned statements reinforce what other reports have concluded: that violations are not spontaneous incidents but a systematic progression of obstructions starting from the arrest and investigation stage until the court is reached, producing practical delays, prolonged detention, and inadequate defence guarantees, disproportionately impacting non-Arabic speaking migrants.
IX: Conclusions
Monitoring by the Adala for All Association shows that Sub-Saharan migrants do not face isolated issues in the criminal justice process but rather a series of interconnected obstacles. These often begin with difficulty in understanding the case parameters and charges due to the lack of translation, then intensify due to inadequate legal assistance, session postponements, and ambiguity about the file status or the defendant's location.
These obstacles marginalise migrant defendants, putting them in a more vulnerable position than others, particularly if they do not speak Arabic and do not have a family or support network capable of following their case. In monitored cases, delays do not always result from case complexity but from recurring procedural issues, such as a translator's absence or the authorities’ failure to bring defendants from detention facilities.
The practical result is that people remain in detention for long periods without resolution of their cases, and with limited ability to defend themselves or even to understand what is happening with their cases. This raises serious concerns about the Libyan criminal justice system’s dedication to upholding the rights to a fair trial, liberty, and equality before the law.
These violations and detrimental practices do not occur in a vacuum but in a broader context of escalating hate speech and racism against black migrants. Accordingly, it is insufficient to treat them as administrative errors alone, as evidence and monitored information indicates that they result in discriminatory outcomes affecting a particular group.
The Adala for All Association believes that the pattern of violations and obstructions disproportionately impacting migrants requires serious attention from Libyan authorities, particularly by providing translation, ensuring an effective defence presence, reviewing cases of prolonged detention, and facilitating access to case information. It also requires follow-up by relevant UN mechanisms to ensure migrants do not remain excluded from actual legal protection.
X: Recommendations
On the basis of the monitored information and patterns presented in this report, the association recommends the implementation of the following steps:
1. To the Libyan Authorities
Prepare a list of accredited or cooperating translators for the most commonly used languages among migrants, especially Hausa, Swahili, and French, and circulate it to police centres, prosecutors, and courts throughout Libya
Do not continue an investigation or trial when the defendant cannot understand the procedures due to the absence of a translator
Record the reason for any postponement clearly in the session record, especially when the reason is the absence of a translator or failure to bring the defendant from the detention authority
Improve coordination between courts, judicial police, and detention authorities to ensure defendants are brought at session times
Review cases where pretrial detention has been prolonged, especially those postponed more than once for reasons unrelated to the defendant
Ensure the presence of a lawyer in cases that may result in deprivation-of-liberty penalties, especially when the defendant is a migrant or does not speak Arabic
Adopt a clearer method for recording non-Arab defendants' names, and reducing spelling errors and file-tracking difficulties
Enable lawyers to access to basic information about cases, such as the place of detention, case number, session date, and reason for postponement
Handle with caution cases where the defendant's age is unclear, and do not treat them as adults automatically before verifying age through appropriate procedures
Emphasise in official discourse and practical practice that combatting irregular migration does not mean depriving migrants of their basic rights to translation, defence, a fair trial, and dignified treatment.
2. To the Supreme Judicial Council and Public Prosecution
Issue clear circulars to courts and prosecutors confirming that translation and legal assistance in cases involving foreigners are not formal matters but fundamental guarantees of procedural validity
Follow up on cases where postponements occur repeatedly, especially due to the absence of a translator or the failure to bring the defendant to court, and identify and address the underlying cause of postponement
Establish a periodic mechanism to review cases where pretrial detention has been prolonged, especially cases involving foreign defendants or non-Arabic speakers
Improve communication between courts and detention authorities before session dates to confirm the possibility of bringing defendants to the session, with the aim of avoiding the postponement of sessions for recurring administrative reasons.
3. To Lawyer Unions and Civil Society Organisations
Support the establishment of a network of volunteer or pro bono lawyers to follow up on migrants' cases for those who cannot afford legal representation, especially in Sebha and the south
Accurately document the reasons for postponements, rather than simply recording case numbers, as understanding the causes contributes to the proposal of practical solutions
Train young lawyers to handle cases involving foreigners and migrants, especially regarding translation, age verification, pretrial detention, and fair trial guarantees
Protect the confidentiality of information when documenting cases, and hide names and data that may expose defendants, their families, or lawyers to danger.
4. To the Special Rapporteur on Migrants' Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Xenophobia
Address Libyan authorities regarding cases where pretrial detention has been prolonged for migrants and non-Libyans, especially when delay is linked to translator absence or not bringing defendants to sessions
Request clarifications from Libyan authorities regarding measures taken to ensure translator provision for foreign defendants and non-Arabic speakers at arrest, investigation, and trial stages
Request information on the number of foreign defendants in pretrial detention, average detention duration, and number of cases postponed due to translator absence or not bringing defendants from detention authorities
Raise the issue of the impact of hate speech and racism against black migrants on their access to justice, especially when this discourse leads to fear of documenting violations or following their cases legally
Urge Libyan authorities to adopt practical steps, such as preparing translator lists, providing pro bono lawyers, reviewing prolonged detention cases, and improving methods for recording foreigners' names within judicial systems
Call on Libyan authorities to ensure that administrative shortcomings, such as translation shortage or poor coordination with detention authorities, do not turn into discriminatory results affecting Sub-Saharan migrants and non-Arabic speakers
The Special Rapporteur on Migrants' Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Xenophobia are called to follow up these violations with the Libyan authorities as matters vital to upholding the right to liberty, fair trial, equality before justice, and non-discrimination.
