Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

Wing of Abu Salim prison where Ibn al-
Sheikh al-Libi was detained, photographed
on March 28, 2012. Ibn al-
Sheikh al-Libi’s cell was the first one on
the left. A large metal door at the end of
the hall separated al-Libi from all other
prisoners at Abu Salim.
Wing of Abu Salim prison where Ibn al-
Sheikh al-Libi was detained, photographed
on March 28, 2012. Ibn al-
Sheikh al-Libi’s cell was the first one on
the left. A large metal door at the end of
the hall separated al-Libi from all other
prisoners at Abu Salim. Right: The
entrance to the cell of Ibn al-Sheikh al-
Libi at Abu Salim prison.
Inside the cell of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi at
Abu Salim prison, photographed on
March 28, 2012. He died in this cell on
May 9, 2009. Libyan authorities claim he
committed suicide by hanging himself
with a sheet, tied into a loop and hooked
onto the corner of the edge of the wall in
the middle of his cell.
© 2012 Human Rights Watch
Those with whom Human Rights Watch spoke who knew al-Libi said he was very religious
and cited this as the main reason why they were surprised by—and disbelieved—the
government’s claim that he had committed suicide. Suicide is strictly prohibited in Islam.
428 Shoroeiya told Human Rights Watch,
Nobody believed it was suicide. First of all, [al-Libi] was a very religious
man and it is forbidden in our religion to commit suicide, and second of all,
it makes no sense that after all that he had faced he would then commit suicide.
As bad as it was in Libya, it was better than any place he had been. 429
428 Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 248. Some Islamist militants who believe in the use of suicide bombings do not believe it
is suicide, but martyrdom, and thus permissible; Soufan, Black Banners, p. 92, 94, 187.
429 Human Rights Watch interview with Shoroeiya, March 18, 2012.
129 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2012