Libya executing people based on secret trials and confessions extracted under torture, group says

Libya has executed at least 31 people since late August, marking the first known executions since 2010, according to Human Rights WatchCAIRO -- CAIRO (AP) — Libya has executed at least 31 people since late August following military trials, marking the country’s first known executions since 2010, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.The rights group said it had documented the executions carried out by the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) as of Sept. 10. It warned that at least 50 other people held at Gernada military prison were at imminent risk of execution. The LNA, also known as the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, is an east-based military force commanded by Gen. Khalifa Hifter that controls eastern and southern Libya. “The Libyan Arab Armed Forces are putting people to death after secret trials built on confessions allegedly extracted through torture, in courts that Libya’s own Supreme Court has said should not be trying civilians,” Bassam Khawaja, HRW’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, said in a report. “Every execution carried out under these conditions is an irreversible injustice.”Human Rights Watch called on the army to immediately halt executions and impose a mor...