Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

subsequently was able to receive visits every three months. He said he was deprived of
sleep and often interrogated at night and forced to stand for long periods of time. 311
While he was in Libyan custody, Belhadj said he was interrogated four times by people he
believes were American agents. 312 He was also interrogated by alleged British agents during
two sessions that lasted about two hours each. 313 He said they were very knowledgeable
about the LIFG and asked questions about members living in the United Kingdom. His
Libyan captors told him that his treatment would improve if he told the British that the LIFG
activists were linked with al Qaeda. 314 “I told the British, as I told everyone else, that LIFG
had no link with al-Qa’ida. I knew making a link would stop what was happening to me, but
I was not going to do it.” 315 Intelligence officers from other European countries, including
France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, also interrogated him while he was detained in Libya. 316
The authorities tried Belhadj in 2008 for crimes against the state. Although he had a stateappointed
lawyer, he was never given a chance to meet with him. There were no witnesses
at the trial, and the only evidence taken into consideration was a report from Libyan
security services. 317 He was sentenced to death. 318 “I fully expected I would be killed,” he
said. 319 Instead, over time and in conjunction with efforts started by Gaddafi’s son, Saif
Gaddafi, he began to participate in an effort to negotiate a prisoner release. Several
hundred prisoners, including Belhadj, Saadi, and Sharif were released in early 2010. 320 To
obtain his release, he had to publicly renounce his efforts to overthrow the government by
force. 321 However, he told Human Rights Watch that he never gave up his desire for regime
311 Ibid.
312 Human Rights Watch interview with Belhadj, Abu Salim Prison, Tripoli, April 27, 2009.
313 Kim Sengupta, “Libyan rebel leader says MI6 knew he was tortured,” The Independent, September 6, 2011,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/libyan-rebel-leader-says-mi6-knew-he-was-tortured-2349778.html
(accessed May 2, 2012).
314 Ibid.
315 Ibid.
316 Ibid.; See also, Chulov, “MI6 knew I was tortured, says Libyan rebel leader,” The Guardian.
317 Human Rights Watch interview with Belhadj, Abu Salim Prison, Tripoli, April 27, 2009.
318 Human Rights Watch Interview with Belhadj, Tripoli, Libya, March 28, 2012.
319 “Watch Libyan rendition victim Abdel Hakim Belhadj talk to the European Parliament,” Reprieve.com.
320 “Libya: 202 Prisoners Released But Hundreds Still Held Arbitrarily,” Human Rights Watch news release, March 25, 2010,
http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/03/25/libya-202-prisoners-released-hundreds-still-held-arbitrarily.
321 Tawil, “The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group's revisions: one year later,” Magharebia,
http://magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/07/23/feature-02. LIFG spiritual leader
Saadi and Deputy LIFG leader Sharif were released along with Belhadj. The three of them co-authored a document entitled
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