Tripoli, Libya–A Libyan court has sentenced to prison 37 people convicted of human trafficking over migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, authorities said on Monday.
The North African country is a key departure point for migrants, with many risking the perilous sea journey seeking a better life in Europe.
The appeals court in Al-Bayda, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, pronounced the verdict against a “criminal gang” whose members organized for migrants to travel on a “dilapidated boat, resulting in the death of 11 of them”, according to statement from the prosecution.
The prosecutor’s office, which did not specify the identities or nationalities of the convicted traffickers, said five of them were sentenced to life in jail and nine others to 15 years.
The rest received a one-year prison term, it said.
War-torn Libya is a key launchpad for migrants who are often fleeing conflict and poverty in sub-Saharan African countries.
They aim to reach Italian shores just 290 kilometers (180 miles) to the north across the Mediterranean, in the world’s deadliest migratory sea route.
Libya was plunged into years of chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed strongman Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, helping to turn the country into a fertile ground for human trafficking.
It is regularly criticized for its handling of migrants, with rights groups alleging horrific treatment by smuggling gangs and inside state-run detention centers.
In a March report, a United Nations fact-finding mission on human rights in Libya found that some migrants trapped there had been subject to sexual slavery — a crime against humanity.
In October 2021, the United States and the United Nations imposed sanctions on a Libyan, Osama Al Kuni Ibrahim, accused of abusing African migrants at a detention center in Libya.