Annex (2): Lists of the Victims of the Abu Salim Prison Massacre
Annex (2): Lists of the Victims of the Abu Salim Prison Massacre
A crime against humanity that claimed the lives of approximately 1,200 prisoners Saturday, 29 June 1996
Based on documents obtained from the Internal Security Agency of the former regime, Human Rights Solidarity (LHRS) acquired official lists of the victims of the Abu Salim Prison massacre. The lists were divided into two categories:
- A list of those whose families were notified of their deaths, numbering 587 victims.
- A list of those intended to be notified, numbering 571 victims.
The Al‑Sharai family — which lost three sons — informed LHRS that their sons’ names were not included in the published lists. Accordingly, the total number of victims is 1,161.
Between 19 January 2002 and 18 July 2004, the security authorities notified the families of 357 prisoners of their deaths, in addition to six cases reported between 1999 and 2000. Notifications then ceased between 2005 and 2007, except for two cases reported in 2005. In all these notifications, the authorities did not disclose the causes of death. In the years immediately preceding the 17 February 2011 Revolution, some families were given “death certificates” that did not meet the standards of a legal document.
In 2008, the authorities resumed notifying families of the deaths of their relatives in detention. Between 5 May 2008 and 22 February 2009, 222 additional deaths in custody were reported.
The lists show that 30 families lost more than one son in the massacre, including:
- The family of Mohamed Milad Al‑Taib from Misrata, which lost five sons.
- The family of Miftah Hamil Al‑Ferjani from Benghazi, which lost three sons.
- The family of Salem Abdulrahman Al‑Sharani from Benghazi, which also lost three sons.
- In addition, 27 families lost two sons each.
The youngest victim listed is Ali Abdulaziz Al‑Naff from Derna, born in 1980, who was 16 years old when he was killed. The oldest victim is Hamed Mohamed Abu Dhahawi Saleh from Ajdabiya, born in 1931, who was 65 years old at the time of his death.
