Mitiga Detention Center
the Expansion of the center (1/2)
Introduction:
Mitiga Detention Center (prison) is located at Mitiga Airbase, which is about 8 Km to the East of Tripoli City Center, Martyrs Square.
The Airbase is currently used as Tripoli’s temporary airport, since the closure of Tripoli International Airport in July 2014.
The following is based from analyzing Google ® Maps satellite images. The prison did not exist before 2011. Up to May 2012, the
site, the South West area of the airbase, had 3 old warehouses. Sometime late May and early June 2012, the SDF started
refurbishing and adding buildings and a high wall around the site. By end of 2012 the 3 warehouses were turned into a prison by
the construction of the wall and adding what appeared as guard or administrative rooms. No more construction was done till
February 2015.
From February 2015 the prison expansion work picked up pace, by February 2016 the expansion to 9 cell-blocks was completed. A
couple of buildings were added in the north east corner of the prison, the “guesthouse”, a holding area with larger cells and less
crowded. The guesthouse serves like a rehabilitation area, where detainees are held for a period to recover (gain weight) before
being released.
Mitiga Detention Center (prison) occupies an area (100m by 80m) ~8000 m2. Its 9 cell blocks holds about 2600 detainees,
according to the report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In November 2016, work started on the area north of the prison complex, to make an area for the detainees to walk around and
catch some sunlight. The area was completed between 5
th & 9
th September 2017. A satellite image shows few people in the area.
The “recreational” area, or as the guards call it “Larea” occupies an area (70m by 100m) ~7000 m2. One cell-block at a time, of the
9 cell blocks of the prison, is allowed 1 hour in the area, and a detainee gets its chance to breath fresh air and catch a glimpse of
sunshine once every 3 days.
