The United States has imposed entry restrictions on a former Libyan judicial police official and his wife over alleged human rights abuses, including torture, murder and the persecution of religious minorities.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday that Osema Almasri Habeesh Najeem and his wife, Aml Faraj Mohamed Makhluf, had been designated under Section 7031(c) of US appropriations legislation, which targets foreign officials implicated in serious human rights violations.
According to the State Department, Najeem was responsible for abuses against detainees at Mitiga and al-Jadida prisons in Libya, including torture, cruel and degrading treatment, forced labour and murder.
The allegations also include the persecution of Christians and members of other religious minority communities.
Najeem, a former senior official in Libya’s Judicial Police, has previously faced international scrutiny over alleged atrocities committed at detention facilities under his authority.
In January 2025, Italian authorities arrested him on the basis of an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Hague-based court alleged that Najeem was involved in ordering, facilitating or directly committing serious abuses against detainees at Mitiga Prison in Tripoli from February 2015 onward.
The allegations included murder, torture and sexual violence, including rape.
However, Italian authorities subsequently released Najeem and arranged his return to Libya, a decision that drew international criticism and raised questions about Rome’s cooperation with the ICC.
Libyan authorities later detained Najeem in November 2025.
Friday’s US designation makes Najeem and the affected members of his family ineligible to enter the United States, Rubio said.
The move represents a further international measure against the former official over allegations of systematic abuses within Libya’s detention system.
