Libya executions: HRW says eastern forces killed 31

Human Rights Watch said military authorities in eastern Libya executed at least 31 people earlier this year after what it called grossly unfair military trials.

The rights group said the executions took place between late August and September 10 and were carried out by forces under the control of military leader Khalifa Haftar and his clan. It said they were the first reported executions in Libya since 2010.

HRW also said at least 50 other detainees were at imminent risk of execution. Bassam Khawaja, the group's deputy Middle East and North Africa director, called on foreign governments to pressure the eastern military authorities to halt further executions.

Khawaja said Haftar's forces were putting people to death after secret trials based on confessions allegedly extracted through torture, in courts that Libya's Supreme Court has said should not try civilians.

HRW said the detainees were being held in a prison about 100 kilometres east of Benghazi. It said the prison is largely under military control, outside judicial authority and frequently accused of human rights violations, torture and ill-treatment.

Libya remains divided between authorities in the east linked to Haftar and a UN-recognised government in the west. The death penalty remains in force in Libya for crimes including murder, terrorism and offences against state security, although HRW said executions had not been carried out in recent years.