Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

It is not clear when Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi was returned to Libya, but the first time his family
was informed that he was there was in December 2007. 419 He was first detained in Tajoura
prison and was then moved to Abu Salim, where he remained until he died. 420 At some
point after being transferred, al-Libi had been sentenced to life in prison. 421 The last time
his brother saw him was in March 2009, 40 days before he died. 422 It was the fourth time
he had been able to visit him in prison. Several other family members had been able to
visit as well. 423
In his final weeks at Abu Salim, al-Libi was held in a separate wing of the facility. Some
said he was placed there by the prison administration and others said he had requested
the isolation. 424 The section had about 20 cells in one corridor, with 10 cells on each side.
The corridor began with an open entrance from a courtyard and ended with a big metal
door. Al-Libi was in one of the first two cells near the entrance by the courtyard.
All of the cells were empty except Libi’s. Two prisoners, Hazem al-Ajdal and Mohammed al-
Kaib, were the prisoners closest to him physically. They were being detained on the other
side of the big metal door, which they said was always closed. Occasionally, though, they
would see al-Libi in a place known as “the Area,” where prisoners were sometimes taken
for exposure to the sun. 425 Al-Ajdal said he was being detained in this section of the prison
because he had an operation on the cornea of his eye and needed to share a cell with
someone who could help him. His cellmate, al-Kaib, had hepatitis, as reportedly did al-
Libi. 426 Both got extra exposure to the sun because of this. Whenever they saw al-Libi they
said he was always alone; the only person near him was a guard. 427
419 Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul Aziz el-Fakhri, March 22, 2012.This also corresponds to the time that the Bush
administration began closing down secret CIA detention sites and transferring detainees to either home or third countries.
420 Human Rights Watch Interview with Faraj el-Fakhri, March 21, 2012.
421 Ibid. See also “Libya/US: Investigate Death of Former CIA Prisoner,” Human Rights Watch news release, May 11, 2009.
422 Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul Aziz el-Fakhri, March 22, 2012.
423 Ibid.
424 The two who said he had asked to go there himself, Abdulla Mohammed Omar al-Tawaty and Hazem al-Ajdal, said he did
so because he saw that he was attracting trouble to other prisoners who were seen with or talking to him, so he asked for the
isolation to protect them. Human Rights Watch interview with Abdulla Mohammed Omar al-Tawaty, March 21, 2012; and
Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Hazem al-Ajdal, March 27, 2012.
425 “The Area” was a large walled space with a mesh roof that allowed sunlight in. Human Rights Watch telephone interview
with Ajdal, Tripoli, Libya, March 27, 2012.
426 Both Hazem al-Ajdal and Mohhamed Bousidra said Sheikh al-Libi had hepatitis.
427 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ajdal, March 27, 2012.
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