Rights groups call for release of detained pro-Gaza activists in Libya
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Alex MacDonald
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Wed, 06/10/2026 - 09:59
Ten members of the Global Sumud Convoy have been held by Khalifa Haftar's authorities since 24 May
Members of the Global Sumud Convoy at the staging and coordination camp in the Joud Daem forest area in Libya on 15 May 2026 (Mahmud Turkia/AFP)
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Rights groups have called for the release of 10 foreign pro-Palestinian activists who have been held by forces loyal to Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya since 24 May.
The detainees - including activists from Spain, Poland, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia and Italy - have been held by the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) after being arrested as part of the Global Sumud Convoy.
The convoy aimed to travel across land to deliver aid and other services to the inhabitants of the besieged Gaza Strip. While other members of the 200-strong convoy were forcibly deported, 10 have been held by the LAAF, which is loyal to eastern commander Haftar.
From 1 June and at least until 4 June, the detainees went on hunger strike to protest their detention and denial of access to their lawyers and families.
According to Amnesty International, the activists are currently in pretrial detention pending investigations into charges of "assembly without authorisation" and if convicted, they face up to six months in prison and/or a fine.
Mahmoud Shalaby, regional researcher at Amnesty International, said it was "disgraceful" that campaigners for Gaza were being targeted on "bogus charges" in Libya.
"No one should be punished for undertaking peaceful humanitarian action and trying to stop human rights abuses," he said in a statement.
"The Libyan Arab Armed Forces must ensure the immediate and unconditional release of the activists, and in the meantime ensure that they have prompt and regular access to their families, consular representatives, lawyers and any medical care they require.”
Libya has been largely divided since the Nato-backed overthrow of long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
How a Gaza-bound aid convoy unravelled attempting to enter Haftar-controlled eastern Libya
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Eastern Libya is controlled by Haftar and his allies, and is backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, while a UN-backed government in Tripoli governs the west of the country.
Launched by North African activists and later joined by international participants, the Gaza-bound convoy included seven ambulances, 20 mobile homes and 10 aid trucks, as well as medical professionals, engineers, educators and legal observers.
They were targeted by the LAAF after they entered the 5+5 security zone near the city of Sirte, a contested area established under the country’s October 2020 ceasefire agreement, hoping to negotiate safe passage onwards to Gaza.
However, while many activists involved in Global Sumud Convoy - which is associated with similar flotillas that have attempted to reach Gaza by sea - praised the commitment of the organisers and their drive to break the siege of Gaza, others said the trip was flawed from the start.
Felipe, a 29-year-old Chilean-Palestinian activist and veteran of previous sea-based flotillas, said the convoy itself bore some responsibility for the outcome.
He told MEE that during a two-week stay in Tripoli, it became increasingly clear there had been little planning for the possibility of detentions or for a confrontation with the LAAF.
"If we were not able to go through east Libya, we should not have kept pressuring them because we were going to shift the narrative from Israel to Libya," he said.
"We were waiting in the desert for nine days doing nothing."
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