The International Criminal Court (ICC) begins three days of pretrial hearings in The Hague involving Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, a former senior commander at Mitiga prison near Tripoli. He is accused of 17 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed between February 2015 and early 2020. Prosecutors describe El Hishri as a central figure in abuse at the detention facility, including torture, rape, murder and other mistreatment of detainees. Sources also refer to testimony that the violence sometimes occurs in front of children and that El Hishri is linked to both direct abuse and acts of instigation.
ICC judges will assess whether there are reasonable grounds to proceed. According to one report, judges have 60 days to determine whether the charges are sufficiently credible to move toward a full trial. The allegations place the case in the post-2011 period following the death of longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, when armed groups and detention systems operated in and around Tripoli. The proceedings focus on whether El Hishri’s involvement is supported by the evidence presented at the hearing stage.
