Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri arrived in The Hague on December 1, 2025 to face charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On July 16, 2025, authorities in Germany arrested El Hishri based on an ICC warrant. It is the first time a suspect has been sent to The Hague in the court's ongoing investigation in Libya, which began in 2011.
The following quote can be attributed to Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch:
"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."
Libya should follow through and hand over other suspects wanted by the court, Human Rights Watch said. They include Osama Elmasry Njeem, who was arrested in Italy earlier in 2025 but freed by Italian authorities on "procedural grounds" and sent to Libya rather than surrendered to the ICC. Elmasry was arrested in Tripoli, Libya, on November 5, 2025, but his surrender to the ICC is still pending. Libya is obligated to cooperate with the court.
