Libya
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Premeditated murder, treason and offenses against the...
- News items in the archive
- 226
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Libya is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 226 news items on Libya, from 1999 to today.
In Libya the death penalty applies to a wide list of offences and is administered within a fragmented institutional framework, with authorities and courts that do not recognise one another. The documented executions include both judicial sentences and killings carried out by armed groups.
The archive gathers what can be verified, and always names the source.
Latest news
- AUGUST 13, 2009LibyaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN SAYS "ONLY 14 NIGERIANS" ON DEATH ROW IN LIBYA
the Nigerian Presidency said that there were only 14 Nigerians on death row in Libya and they were convicted of offences such as murder, drugs and armed robbery.
- JULY 29, 2009LibyaDEATH PENALTY
Libyan authorities executed Egyptian national Fadl Ismail Heteita...
Libyan authorities executed Egyptian national Fadl Ismail Heteita for murder after more than three years on death row.
- JANUARY 1, 2009LibyaDEATH PENALTY
A large number of offences, including political offences and economic “crimes” are punishable by death.
A large number of offences, including political offences and economic “crimes” are punishable by death.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2008SudanDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: 6 SENTENCED TO DEATH
the Federal Court of Cassation in Iraq upheld the death sentences imposed by the Criminal Court on six convicts, including two Arab nationals, for murder, abduction and terrorism-related crimes.
- OCTOBER 22, 2008LibyaDEATH PENALTY
the Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD...
the Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD...
SEPTEMBER 17, 2008ItalyDEATH PENALTYITALY-LIBYA: RADICALS- THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD REPORT IN PARLIAMENT ON THE AGREEMENT WITH GHADDAFI
"In forty years of absolute power, Colonel Ghaddafi's regime has been characterised by the persecution of every type of political dissent, by the systematic repression of the free opinions of individuals and associations not acknowledged by the regime, by
MAY 9, 2008ItalyDEATH PENALTYITALY/LIBYA: D'ELIA, ‘ENOUGH’ TO LIBYAN BLACKMAIL
we have to say ‘enough’ to the politics of threats and blackmail that the Libyan authorities have used for a long time," Sergio D'Elia, Secretary of Hands Off Cain said.
- FEBRUARY 29, 2008GhanaDEATH PENALTY
GOVERNMENT SECURES PARDON FOR KANKAM
a Ghanaian citizen, Kwabena Kankam, sentenced to death in Lybia, was pardoned
FEBRUARY 16, 2008GambiaDEATH PENALTYLIBYA. TWO GHANAIANS EXCUTED FOR MURDER
two Ghanaian nationals and a Gambian were executed by firing squad at the Kofiya Rehabilitation Facility in Benghazi, after pleas for clemency and Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor’s last-minute intervention for a stay of execution were turned down.,
- JANUARY 24, 2008LibyaDEATH PENALTY
Libyan authorities executed Emad Abdul Wahed...
Libyan authorities executed Emad Abdul Wahed...
JANUARY 22, 2008LibyaDEATH PENALTYLIBYA. TWO GHANAIANS EXECUTED FOR MURDER
two Ghanaians, Charles Ansah and Asare Bediako, were executed for allegedly killing a Libyan citizen.
- JANUARY 1, 2008LibyaDEATH PENALTY
A large number of offences, including political offences and economic “crimes” are punishable by death.
A large number of offences, including political offences and economic “crimes” are punishable by death.
- DECEMBER 18, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTY
Libya voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium...
Libya voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium...
- NOVEMBER 22, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. FOUR NIGERIANS EXECUTED
according to a Nigerian recently deported from Libya, who wished to remain
- JULY 30, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. NINE EGYPTIANS ESCAPE DEATH PENALTY AFTER BLOOD MONEY ACCEPTED
nine Egyptians on death row in Libya escaped capital punishment after the families of their
JULY 24, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTYBULGARIAN MEDICS PARDONED UPON RETURN
five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were pardoned by President Georgi Parvanov upon their arrival in Sofia after spending 8 years in prison in Libya.
- JULY 19, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD
the court in Tripoli, Libya, condemned three men to death by firing squad for the
JULY 17, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTYLIBYA LIFTS EXECUTION FOR HIV MEDICS AFTER PAYMENTS TO FAMILIES OF INFECTED CHILDREN
Libya dropped death sentences against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of infecting hundreds of children with HIV, commuting their punishments to life in prison, the foreign minister said
JULY 11, 2007ItalyDEATH PENALTYDEATH PENALTY. HANDS OFF CAIN: THE EU MUST NOT YIELD TO LIBYAN BLACKMAIL
the directors of Hands Off Cain, Sergio D'Elia, secretary of the association and Rosa Nel
JULY 11, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTYLIBYA. COURT CONFIRMS DEATH PENALTY FOR FOREIGN MEDICS
a Libyan court confirmed a death sentence against six foreign
- JUNE 13, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTY
TEN EGYPTIANS ESCAPE DEATH PENALTY IN LIBYA
ten Egyptians on the death row in Libya escaped capital punishment after the families of their victims accepted blood money in return for pardoning them, said an Egyptian diplomat.
- MAY 26, 2007EgyptDEATH PENALTY
in Libya, the execution of an Egyptian citizen...
in Libya, the execution of an Egyptian citizen...
- MAY 25, 2007EgyptDEATH PENALTY
the Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs...
the Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs...
MAY 22, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTYa high official in Cairo made public in a report by Ansa that eight Egyptian
a high official in Cairo made public in a report by Ansa that eight Egyptian
- MAY 18, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTY
AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARIANS BACK LIBYAN DEATH SENTENCE ON BULGARIANS
African parliamentarians backed death sentences imposed in Libya on five Bulgarian nurses and a
- APRIL 20, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN IRAQ
a Libyan national was sentenced to death in Iraq for joining ‘an armed group’, according to a statement by the Iraqi Supreme Court.
- MARCH 12, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS EU OVER HANDLING OF MEDICS' CASE
The Libyan parliament has approved a resolution slamming a EU campaign for the release of five Bulgarian
- MARCH 9, 2007PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Suleiman Shahoumi, secretary of the Foreign Affairs...
Suleiman Shahoumi, secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Libya's General Peoples Congress...
- JANUARY 29, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. GADDAFI'S SON SAYS BULGARIAN NURSES TO BE SPARED EXECUTION
Libya will not execute five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death last month, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said in a newspaper interview, calling the verdicts unfair.
JANUARY 22, 2007LibyaDEATH PENALTYthe EU Foreign Ministers expressed
the EU Foreign Ministers expressed "serious concerns" over the "unacceptable