TRIPOLI, March 23, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The United Nations Support Mission in Libya expressed concern over what it said were arbitrary arrests, including of lawyers and members of the judiciary, calling for their immediate release.

"UNSMIL is alarmed by the wave of arbitrary arrest and detentions across Libya by law enforcement and security actors," it said in a statement late Saturday.

"These actors are using their powers of arrest and detention to target individuals for their alleged political affiliations, to silence perceived dissent and to undermine judicial independence."

Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

It remains split between a UN-recognised government in Tripoli and a rival authority in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

UNSMIL also expressed concern about the use of filmed confessions, "where individuals are detained and coerced into 'confessing' to alleged crimes with videos published online."

It said the practice was used to "intimidate and humiliate" the individuals, and must be deemed inadmissible.

Among those arrested was Judge Ali al-Sharif, who was subjected to violence during his arrest in Tripoli on March 10, as well as lawyer Mounir al-Orfi, detained in Benghazi since March 12, said the UN.

Two military prosecutors, Mansour Daoub and Mohammed al-Mabrouk al-Kar, have also been held in Tripoli since 2022, UNSMIL said.

The situation "undermines the environment necessary for Libya's democratic transition, and weakens Libyans' trust in law enforcement and security entities that must work to protect and promote the rights of all people in Libya, not undermine them," UNSMIL said.