On 15 July, the Abu Salim Personal Status Court affiliated with the Bab Ben Ghashir District Court in Tripoli, was the target of a violent armed assault. According to media reports corroborated by the Libyan Association for Members of the Judiciary, a group of armed men arrived in three armored vehicles and opened fire on the court building, causing structural damage, forcing a halt to judicial proceedings, and terrifying judges, staff, and visitors.
The incident appeared to be related to a judicial decision that had angered one of the assailants, reportedly affiliated with the Public Security Service (itself linked to the UN-recognized Government of National Unity’s Interior Ministry). According to testimony shared with the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) by a court employee who witnessed the attack, three cars with armed men circled the building located in a densely populated area. At least one individual forced his way into the courthouse assaulted a member of the Judicial Police, and fired live ammunition inside the building. He then broke into the judge’s office, in search of the presiding magistrate, and vandalized court property when he did not find him.
This attack is not an isolated act of violence but can be understood as a response to the judiciary’s attempts in recent months to reclaim its authority; amid over a decade of fragmentation, impunity, and the domination of armed groups over public institutions. Since the 12 May killing of Stability Support Apparatus leader Abdel Ghani al-Kikli (known as Gheniwa) and escalating tensions with armed groups aligned with the Government of National Unity, the Office of the Public Prosecutor has taken steps to reassert its prerogatives. It has launched investigations into militia-run detention centers, issued arrest warrants against members of armed factions, and demanded access to security facilities long shielded from oversight. These judicial initiatives have unsettled the informal order that has prevailed in post-2011 Libya where armed groups have acted as de facto judicial, police, and custodial authorities, challenging and ignoring state institutions and the rule of law.
The 15 July attack on the courthouse, a direct act of aggression against the Libyan judiciary, is far from the first. Since 2011, dozens of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers have faced assassination attempts, arbitrary arrests, and militia-led intimidation for exercising their judicial duties; this hostility towards public officials has only escalated in recent months. In June 2023, Ahmed Al-Qatani, a public prosecutor, was assaulted by a military group inside the South Benghazi Court of First Instance, while performing his duties. On 10 March 2025, Ali Al-Saghir Al-Sharif, a sitting judge in Tripoli, was beaten, insulted, and illegally detained from his home by armed men before being released. On 21 October 2024, Judge Abdul Jawad Al-Alous survived an assassination attempt in Al Khoms, after dozens of bullets were fired at his home.
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the Libya Platform Coalition for Human Rights call on the Libyan authorities, particularly the Government of National Unity, to seize this moment, build on the judiciary’s recent efforts to reassert its independence, address fragmented security, and regain its monopoly on the use of force through comprehensive reform of the security sector, together with ensuring accountability, and protecting the judiciary from any form of interference.
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