The Human Rights Association (HRA) has called on Libyan authorities to immediately release Gambian nationals being held in detention facilities across Libya and end what it described as the “systematic abuse” of migrants.

In a statement issued from Cape Town in May 2026, HRA chairman Saad Kassis-Mohamed said Gambians and other West African migrants were facing torture, forced labour, extortion and arbitrary detention in official and militia-controlled facilities across the North African country.

The call follows a joint report published in February 2026 by the United Nations Human Rights Office and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, which described the treatment of migrants in Libya as a “brutal and normalised reality” driven by a violent exploitation system.

According to the report, which covered the period from January 2024 to December 2025, migrants from 16 countries across Africa, the Middle East and South Asia reported widespread abuse, including beatings, sexual violence, ransom demands and forced detention.

Several Gambian nationals were among those whose testimonies were documented.

One Gambian man identified as Lamin reportedly told investigators he was beaten by guards in a Libyan detention facility, robbed of his belongings and left with broken teeth. Another Gambian national, Ebrima, said he was arrested at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard, detained without due process and deported to The Gambia without understanding documents he had been asked to sign.

A third Gambian, Bakary, reportedly described harsh detention conditions that rights groups said amounted to torture and inhuman treatment.

The HRA said the abuses were not isolated incidents but part of a wider pattern in which migrants are rounded up, abducted and detained without legal process.

The organisation added that many detention centres were linked to criminal networks operating alongside state-affiliated actors.

Since 2015, at least 3,300 Gambians have reportedly been repatriated from Libya through assisted return programmes.

The statement also referenced mass raids carried out by Libyan authorities in Sebha on 3 February 2026, during which more than 2,000 migrants were detained after their homes were demolished. Reports indicated that up to 1,000 people may have gone missing following the operation.

Investigators in February also uncovered two mass graves in south-eastern Libya containing the bodies of dozens of migrants, some with evidence of gunshot wounds.

Kassis-Mohamed said: “Gambian men have had their teeth broken in Libyan detention facilities. They have been beaten, robbed, and deported without being told what they were signing.

“These are the experiences of people who have been subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, and forced labour at the hands of entities operating with the complicity of state authorities.”

He urged Libyan authorities to release all migrants held without due process, end mass detention raids and cooperate fully with United Nations human rights investigations.

The HRA, an initiative of the WeCare Foundation based in Cape Town, works across Africa, South Asia and the Gulf region on issues relating to detention, due process and human rights advocacy.