Military confirms detention of senior commander

The forces of Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar on Friday said they had detained a senior commander two weeks before the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest over unlawful killings in the flashpoint city of Benghazi. They said Mahmoud Busayf al-Werfalli has been investigated by the military prosecutor since 2 August. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, the ICC last week announced that it had issued a war crimes arrest warrant for al-Werfalli who is accused of 'murder as a war crime in the context of the non-international armed conflict in Libya'. A report on the News24 site notes that al-Werfalli commanded a unit battling alongside Haftar's forces in Libya's second largest city, from which jihadists were finally ousted in July following a three-year military campaign.

Forces loyal to the Libyan National Army (LNA) in eastern Libya appear to have executed captured fighters in Benghazi and desecrated corpses, Human Rights Watch has noted. It said video recordings posted online seem to show LNA fighters carrying out seven distinct unlawful executions of ‘extremists’. The most recent video, which appeared on social media on 24 July shows the summary execution of 20 blindfolded men with their hands tied behind their backs in orange jumpsuits. The executioners appear to be members of a special forces unit headed by al-Werfalli. The Army Special Forces in Benghazi, under the command of Wanis Bukhamada, are linked to the LNA, which is commanded by General Khalifa Hiftar. The LNA is allied with the Interim Government, one of the three governments vying for legitimacy, international recognition, and control of territory in Libya.