June 11, 2026
BENGHAZI, LIBYA – The Global Sumud
Flotilla (GSF) raises urgent diplomatic and legal concern
following information that the detention of 10 humanitarian
volunteers from the Global Sumud Land Convoy has been
extended for an additional 30 days in Benghazi. The
volunteers are currently being held by the Eastern Internal
Security Agency (ISA), a powerful security body operating
under the de facto authority of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces
(LAAF) in eastern Libya.
According to information
communicated through diplomatic channels, this reported
extension raises serious concerns about the handling of the
pre-trial process and the lack of basic procedural
safeguards. GSF has not yet received official written
confirmation of the extension order and is urgently seeking
legal documentation. The decision was reportedly made
without proper notification to families or legal
representatives, and follows a prior appearance before the
public prosecutor conducted without the knowledge of the
volunteers’ families or representatives.
This is not
a minor procedural matter. It is the continued detention of
unarmed civilians, including medical doctors, who were part
of a humanitarian mission to break the siege on Gaza and
deliver aid to the Palestinian people. The use of opaque
legal procedures to prolong their detention only deepens the
political responsibility of those holding them.
While
diplomatic reports indicate that the volunteers are
receiving basic necessities, including food and access to
showers, GSF stresses that basic physical conditions do not
make a detention lawful. The lack of regular consular
communication, legal clarity, and official documentation
regarding the reported 30-day extension point to a serious
violation of basic human rights.
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Governments whose
nationals are among the detainees must no longer treat this
as a quiet consular fi le. They must act publicly, urgently,
and collectively to secure the release and repatriation of
these non-violent civilians — medical professionals,
humanitarians, a filmmaker, and a journalist — detained
after attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.
Every
additional day of detention increases the political
responsibility of the authorities holding them, and of the
governments with the leverage to
intervene.
