Amnesty International recently called for the convictions of 11 Christians convicted in Libya to be overturned, citing “grossly unfair” trials.
The human rights organization said the trials of the nine Libyan men, a Libyan woman, and a Pakistani man were “marred by egregious violations of due process and international human rights standards.”
The 11 believers, who were charged with “insulting religious sanctities and rituals using the internet,” “calling for the establishment of a banned group,” and “promoting the change of the fundamental principles of the constitution,” were sentenced on April 15 to three to 15 years in prison.
Between March and August 2023, Internal Security Agency (ISA) members arrested the Christians without arrest warrants issued in their names, alleging they belonged to a group promoting Christianity.
“Throughout the sessions of the trial, which started in September 2024, judges never examined witnesses or evidence against the defendants,” Amnesty stated in a press release. “They also never questioned any members of the ISA, whose investigations were the only basis for the criminal investigations into the defendants.”
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The statement continued: “The hearings were limited to judges confirming the presence of the defendants and their lawyers requesting their release pending trial. However, the judges consistently ordered the continued detention of the defendants, without providing any justification, and adjourned the hearings.”
According to Open Doors US, which has published the annual World Watch List since 1983, Libya ranks 4th as the country where Christians face the most extreme persecution worldwide.
Amnesty International called on the public prosecutor to immediately review all cases of people detained for criminal prosecutions based only on ISA investigations.
“He must open prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, transparent, and effective investigations into the allegations of human rights violations, including torture, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention against all suspected ISA members,” the statement said.
“Libyan authorities should immediately quash the convictions and sentences of those imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights.”
This article originally appeared at persecution.org and has been reprinted with permission.
Founded in 1995, International Christian Concern (ICC) is a Christian organization. It’s an ecumenical, non-governmental, and non-partisan group focused on protecting the human rights of Christians and religious minorities.
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2 Responses
I am honestly surprised Amnesty is doing something besides denouncing Israel for a change.
Dear TRR, thank you for reporting on this.
A reminder that persecution of Christians increased after the Western takedown of the Gaddafi government. Please note the sources.
“Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya as a dictator for over forty years, until his death in 2011. Although technically Christianity was subject to regulations and restrictions during this time, most of these laws—such as those that prohibited Bibles and other religious materials from entering Libya—were unenforced. In fact, Christians report very little religious-inspired discrimination in employment, housing, or everyday life under Gaddafi’s rule. On occasions of religious festivities such as Palm Sunday, Copts would even have processions on the streets without any expressed objection from the Libyan community.”
(https://ucs.nd.edu/learn/libya/)
“With the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, anti-Christian violence is quickly rising under the influence of Islamist extremism, thus raising concerns about the future of religious freedom in the country.” (2013: https://www.persecution.org/2013/03/14/attacks-on-christians-spike-in-libya/)