BENGHAZI, Libya, Aug. 3 — A delegation from Somalia’s Independent Human Rights Commission visited a prison in eastern Libya on Monday, where dozens of Somali nationals are being held, as part of efforts to assess their conditions and strengthen cooperation with Libyan authorities.
The delegation, led by Deputy Chairperson Mohamed Harun Mahmoud and Commissioner Ali Mohamed Ilmi, visited Ganfuda Prison in Benghazi, where they met Somali detainees and held talks with prison officials, according to a statement from the commission.
Officials said 70 Somali nationals are currently being held at the prison, including eight women. One of the women is accompanied by her three-year-old child.
During the visit, General Salah Mahmoud, head of Libya’s department for combating illegal migration, said nearly 300 Somali citizens are being detained in prisons across eastern and southern Libya, with 70 of them held at Ganfuda Prison.
Representatives of Libya’s Human Rights and Public Freedoms Council, who accompanied the Somali delegation, pledged to continue monitoring the welfare of the Somali detainees and to share regular updates with Somalia’s human rights commission.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen future cooperation aimed at improving the protection of Somali nationals in Libya and enhancing coordination on human rights issues affecting migrants and detainees.
Libya remains a major transit route for migrants from the Horn of Africa seeking to reach Europe, with thousands of migrants and asylum seekers held in detention facilities across the country amid longstanding concerns over their living conditions and access to legal protection.
