International Criminal Court judges on Thursday ordered Libyan suspect Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri to stand trial on charges including murder, rape and torture allegedly committed at the notorious Mitiga prison, paving the way for the court's first trial centered on crimes in Libya.
The judges unanimously confirmed 17 charges against El Hishri after prosecutors presented evidence during a hearing in May, alleging he abused detainees at the prison between 2014 and 2020.
In their written decision, the judges said there are "substantial grounds to believe" El Hishri is responsible for the alleged crimes.
Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan welcomed the ruling as a significant milestone, saying it brings the court "a step closer to delivering justice for thousands of victims who were unlawfully arrested, detained and subjected to severe suffering in Mitiga prison."
According to the charges, El Hishri was a senior commander at the prison in charge of the women's section, where prosecutors said sexual violence was widespread. They said his brutality earned him the nickname "Angel of Death."
El Hishri's lawyer, Yasser Hassan, urged judges not to confirm the charges against his client, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction. In a separate ruling this week, judges confirmed the ICC has jurisdiction over the case.
No trial date was immediately set. Germany transferred El Hishri to the Netherlands in December after arresting him in July on a sealed ICC warrant.
Libya is not a member of the court, but the U.N. Security Council in 2011 tasked the judicial body with investigating alleged crimes in the country as it descended into lawlessness following the uprising that toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The court issued an arrest warrant for Gadhafi, but rebels killed him before he could be detained and transferred to The Hague.
The ICC came under renewed international scrutiny this week after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that the United States was launching a "sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty."
Rubio said he will pressure the court's 125 member states to withdraw from the institution, sanction organizations that work with the court and bar ICC staff from traveling to the United States. Countries that "enjoy the benefits of the U.S. security umbrella" will be called upon to reject the court's jurisdiction over U.S. citizens.
President Donald Trump's administration has already imposed sanctions on the court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, and a dozen other ICC staff members in retaliation for arrest warrants the court issued for senior Israeli officials over the war in Gaza and its investigations into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.
