International human rights organizations have long criticized Italy’s migration agreement with Libya, which involves Italian economic support of its former colony in exchange for Libya cracking down on illegal migration into Europe. To curb the flow of migrants out of the country, Libya runs detention centers that the International Criminal Court (ICC) says are the site of systematic torture, killings, and sexual abuse. Accusations that Italy is turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in Libya have grown even louder in the past weeks, following Italy’s arrest and quick repatriation to Libya of a Libyan official accused of crimes against humanity in the country’s detention centers.
Because of Libya’s location in northern Africa, the country is a hub for illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa across the Mediterranean into Italy. UNICEF has called that migrant route “among the world’s deadliest and most dangerous,” and Italy has long tried to curb the flow of illegal immigrants traveling from Libya into its borders.
In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Italy for its “push back” policy of returning migrants to Libya. In response, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti signed a bilateral agreement with Libya meant to curb migration into Europe.
That plan has controversial, especially following reports of torture and human rights violations in the detention centers managed by Libyan authorities. In a conversation with The Media Line, Italian journalist Valerio Nicolosi put it bluntly: “Italy pays these gangs not just to intercept migrants but also to manage detention centers, which in Libya means running prisons where people are systematically tortured.”
Italy pays these gangs not just to intercept migrants but also to manage detention centers, which in Libya means running prisons where people are systematically tortured
Professor Marina Castellaneta, an international law expert at southern Italy’s University of Bari, noted that Libya was among the minority of countries that have not ratified the 1951 Geneva convention on refugees. “Yet Italy entered into an agreement with a state known for inhumane and degrading treatment toward migrants,” Castellaneta told The Media Line.
“Italy externalizes its migration crisis to avoid accountability. But when you finance a system that involves mass torture and human trafficking, you are complicit in crimes against humanity,” she continued.
The detention centers in Libya, funded indirectly by Italy, have been described as sites of unimaginable horror. Migrants are held in inhumane conditions and subjected to systematic beatings, sexual violence, and forced labor.
According to a 2023 report by Doctors Without Borders, refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Tripoli’s detention centers have been “assaulted, sexually abused, beaten, and killed.” Detainees are systematically deprived of necessities, including adequate food, water, sanitation, and medical care, the report said.
A 2021 report by Amnesty International found that migrants who were returned to Libya after attempting to reach Europe are “subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, extortion, and forced labor” upon their return.
“You are locked up in a warehouse, treated as a slave,” David Yambio, co-founder of the Refugees in Libya organization, told The Media Line of his own experience in the detention centers. “If you are strong, you are forced to work. If you are weak, you rot. Women are used as sex objects. If you can pay 200 or 300 euros, you gain your ‘freedom’—but they will just arrest you again the next day and extort more money.”
Despite years of criticism from human rights organizations, Italy has continuously renewed its agreement with Libya. Last month, Italian officials arrested Ossama al-Masri, a key player involved Libya’s detention centers—but just days later, they released al-Masri and returned him to Libya.
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On January 19, al-Masri was arrested in the northern Italian city of Turin following an ICC warrant against him for crimes against humanity, including torture, human trafficking, and rape. In the Mitiga detention center, which al-Masri administered, 34 detainees were killed and 22 people, including a 5-year-old child, were sexually abused by guards over the past decade, the ICC said.
Nicolosi described al-Masri as “one of those gang leaders—not a diplomatic term, but accurate.” “These gangs were the power brokers of Libya, and al-Masri was one of their most powerful,” he said.
The next step after arresting someone on an ICC warrant is generally extraditing the suspect to The Hague for a trial. In this case, though, al-Masri was quietly released only 96 hours after his arrest. Italy placed him on a Falcon 550 government aircraft—the kind used mostly by Italian secret services—and returned him to Libya.
This is the first case that has so strongly violated ICC rules
In doing so, Italy effectively ignored its obligations under the ICC statute, to which it is a signatory, Castellaneta said. “This is the first case that has so strongly violated ICC rules,” she noted. “Italy is a founding member of the court, yet it deliberately chose to ignore an international arrest warrant.”
Libya’s role in preventing the inflow of migrants into Italy gives the former colony significant leverage, Nicolosi said. “If Italy had handed over al-Masri to the ICC, it would have faced immediate repercussions. The flow of migrants would have been used as a form of punishment, a direct consequence of defying the power structures in Libya,” he explained.
This strategy is not unique to Libya. For instance, in 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened to “open the gates” to allow migrants into Europe, aiming to gain leverage in negotiations with the European Union.
Nicolosi said that Italy handing over al-Masri to the ICC would have also been a de facto admission of complicity in the human rights violations that took place in Libya’s detention centers. “Instead, they made him disappear, treating him like their own asset rather than a war criminal, like he is,” he said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government orchestrated al-Masri’s repatriation to Libya within hours of his arrest. The swiftness of the operation may suggest a calculated effort to preempt any legal challenge that could implicate Italy in ICC proceedings.
“The decision to remove al-Masri immediately after his arrest was not just about protecting him but about protecting Italy from standing trial for its involvement in Libya’s detention centers,” Nicolosi said.
Similarly, Castellaneta said that Italy opted for “defiance” rather than opening itself up to legal repercussions. “If Italy had handed over al-Masri, it would have faced its own reckoning at The Hague,” she said.
The al-Masri case is not just about one criminal evading justice—it’s about the broader failure of international law, the ICC, and Western governments that are complicit in human rights violations, the experts said.
“When a state deliberately ignores an ICC warrant, it undermines the credibility of international justice. This case sets a precedent where political convenience trumps accountability,” Castellaneta concluded.
For those who suffered in al-Masri’s detention centers, the news of their abuser’s swift repatriation hits hard. Yambio, the Refugees in Libya co-founder, said that the women who testified about being abused by al-Masri “are in constant panic” since the news of his return to Libya.
“They feel hunted,” he said. “They took risks to testify, believing in international justice, and now they see that justice is a farce.”
We believed in the international community. We thought justice would be served. Now we know we are on our own.
The decision of the Italian government to extradite al-Masri made those whom al-Masri abused victims twice over, Yambio said. “We believed in the international community. We thought justice would be served. Now we know we are on our own,” he said.
Italy’s actions have not only deepened the suffering of Libya’s refugees but have also undermined the integrity of Europe’s commitment to human rights. A founding member of the ICC disregarding international justice signals a troubling shift for the future of accountability in global conflicts. This sets a dangerous precedent, potentially emboldening other nations to ignore international law in favor of political expediency.